Ratchet & Clank: Orphan
by Rickudemus
Summary: In an alternative universe, Clank is the one who finds little Ratchet all alone on the planet of Veldin. Clank sees potential in the child and takes him along, trying his best to raise him well while being forced into a battlefield. -Dedicated for my sweet little sister, Gothicruby-
1. Chapter 1

With short, quick steps, I traveled across the planet Veldin, looking for any kind of life form I could. The place was dying as the water seemed to be vanishing from the lands. It was so dry and hot that any organic life form would feel drained.

"Nothing here." I reported into my headset, soon receiving reply.

"Good work, Clank! We'll be looking through these parts first and then come get you! We, uh, ran into a little trouble." The voice of a man commented nervously. I sighed, shaking my head to him.

"Another reporter wanting to take pictures of your awesomeness, Captain?" I asked, partly in a sarcastic tone and partly in a serious one. It was beyond me how Captain Qwark was so famous with so little. Well, he provided a good home at least with the rest of the crew, Al and Helga. It was quite lively like that.

"No, no, nothing like that! This is an actual emergency!" Captain Qwark said, making me feel a little bit nervous. Perhaps it was actually so this time?

"What is it, Captain? Are you alright?" Asking in worry, I looked around, in case there were ships attacking the planet or anything, but there was no such things I could detect.

"Some kind of a rat or something jumped on me! It scratched my suit! I'm waiting for Helga to bring me a towel, so no-one will see the shame I'm bathing in right now! Can you imagine, me, Captain Qwark, letting my suit get torn up like this!" Captain Qwark spoke in an extremely dramatic tone. This was ridicilous.

"Alright, you take care of that. I'll look around some more." Sighing, I closed the line and kept on walking along the paths of Veldin. I wouldn't even bother myself with the troubles of the Captain, but would just concentrate on finding any people who would need help. Our mission was to save anyone in need and this planet was about to need it quite a lot; unless this place began to blossom, we would have to make sure everyone got out safely. There weren't many inhabitants and even most of them would rather stay on the planet and die with it, if such a fate was granded upon them. It was rather poetic in a way, not wanting to leave your home like that. Captain Qwark would just call it stupidly suicidal.

Listening closely, I began detecting soft sniffling, as if someone was crying. I tried locating the source, which turned out quite difficult. I couldn't see it anywhere, but as soon as I found it, it wasn't a big surprise; the target had been quite small and hiding inside a little rock pile cave thing. It looked strangely homesy.

"Hello." I greeted, receiving the creature's attention. He looked at me in an untrusting manner as he pointed his wrench at me from his little cave system.

"Back off!" The little one snapped, growling softly; I assumed he was trying to be threatning, but being so young, his voice wasn't too low.

"I'm sorry, I'm not here to harm you. I'm just looking for individuals that may be in need of an assistance." I explained myself, which made the little one a bit confused. "Basically, I am here to help."

"Oh..." He replied, glaring at me from the dark cave as he slowly crawled towards me. He sniffled, wiping his eyes as he came out with his wrench still pointed at me. He fully revealed himself and his appearance certainly surprised me. "Don't pull any tricks on me." He warned me, still keeping his "fighting stance".

"You're a lombax. I haven't seen many of you around." I stated, which seemed to have made him more angry.

"No wonder, I'm the only one around." He watched me angrily, while I gave him a sad stare.

"You're alone? Where are your parents?" Asking this obviously made the little lombax upset as he lowered his ears as well as his weapon.

"I don't know... I've been here as long as I remember..." Another sniffle escaped the lombax, but he soon dried his eyes and nose, glaring at me once again. "But it doesn't matter! I can take care of myself!"

"I would believe so, yes. Still, I would like to ask you to come with us. The planet isn't doing too well and while I believe an adult could take care of himself, I think a child your age lacks the experience of survival." Once again, my explanation brought confusion to the lombax's eyes.

"...you talk so much." He said, looking distressed as he stood there with his weapon still raised. He then crawled back into his small cave, his home, I assumed and let out another failed attempt of a growl. "Now leave! I'm not going!"

"Please, young one; I only wish your best." I kneeled down at the entrance, watching him in worry. "This place won't be able to provide the food and energy a child like you would need. I promise you, we will take good care of you."

"Why would I trust a robot? All your kind does is destroy everything..." The child mumbled sadly.

"Did a robot do that to you?" I carefully asked and as I get no reply, I assumed I was correct. Poor thing he was. "I assure you, I am not like those robots. There aren't many places in this body a gun could fit, so rest assured, I won't harm you."

The lombax let out a faint chuckle. "Yeah, you're sadly small for a robot."

I smiled at the comment and offered my hand to him. "Come now. My crew will pick us up anytime now." It took some time, but the child grabbed my hand and I carefully pulled him out. "Do you have anything you need to take with you?"

"I don't... Have anything." He said sadly again, looking down to his feet.

"Do you at least have a name?" I asked again and by this time, I felt like I was poking him with sharp knives as each question seemed to hurt him more and more.

"I uh..." He quietly said as I still held onto his hand, starting to walk him away from the small cave and lead him to an area that would help the Captain and the others to spot them easier.

"I can give you a name, if you'd like." I suggested, which made him oddly nervous. It was as if he was ashamed of himself. "Hey, it's alright." Trying to comfort him, he carefully looked at me, not letting go of his wrench.

"It just feels stupid. Not remembering my own name nor if I actually have one..." He growled again, looking down with a pouty look in his face.

"It happens to the best of us." I chuckled, which gained his attention. "If you don't have one, at least let me give you one. I wouldn't like calling you a child for the rest of your life."

"Okay." He simply replied, looking at me with a hopeful glint in his eyes. I couldn't help but wonder this.

"Ratchet." I said, which made him tilt his head. "I don't know why, but that name came up to me instantly." I let out another laugh. "If you don't like it, though-"

"Thanks." He smiled bravely, giving me the feeling that he was gaining more bravery with every sentence I said to him. "Nice to meet you, mister. I'm Ratchet." He grinned widely. "What's your name?"

Not being able to hold in another chuckle, I smiled. Well, the best I could smile, anyway. "My name is Clank. Nice to meet you."

He grinned even more widely, growing more happy and at a surprising speed as well. It was as if this was meant to happen; like he was supposed to be with me.

This child just seemed like nothing else I had seen before. It was almost... Heroic.


	2. Chapter 2

"Welcome to our ship, young lad!" Captain Qwark greeted as I brought the young lombax into our home ship. The ship itself wasn't that big, but it was enough for all of us to live in. Each of us had our own rooms with our own personal needs. The question now was, where would we be able to fit Ratchet.

"Captain Qwark?!" Ratchet gasped, watching the man in awe. He looked at me in wonder. "You live with Captain Qwark?!"

"Well, yes, I-"

"I see you are a big fan of my, young lad! I like that!" Qwark cheered, not letting me finish my sentence. "You are free to live within this ship and feed on my ultimate glory!"

"Oh, dear..." I commented quietly, walking with Ratchet towards the main lobby of the ship, which lead to each of our rooms, the cockpit as well as the other rooms the ship had, consisting of a small training room, a resting room, a bathroom and a kitchen. All this was thanks to Qwark, which I kind of hated to admit. Since he was a big celebrity known all around the galaxy, he was able to get his hands on such a ship. While it provided everything we needed, his ego seemed just a little too big for such a "tiny" ship.

"I'm afraid we don't have an empty room for you, young lad, so you will have to share one with some of us. Well, clearly not me, because I need my own space! You understand, right?" Qwark grinned widely at Ratchet, who let out a small laugh. The boy looked at me, tilting his head slightly.

"Could a share a room with him?" He asked Qwark, which kind of made me a little angry inside. He could've just asked me. Then again, he was the Captain. He decided.

"Certainly! Clank won't mind! You might just fit into his room, since it is quite filled with all kinds of scrap metals, projects and what-not!" Qwark laughed. Hiding my embarrassment, I headed for my own room with a heavy sigh. Ratchet would have seen my room sooner or later, but the captain didin't have to sound so rude about it. It wasn't scrap metal; I knew all that was going to be useful someday.

As I reached the door, stopping near it, I heard faint footsteps behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Ratchet following me with a smile. It kind of made me surprised. "You want to see your new home?" I asked kindly, receiving an eager nod from him. Chuckling, I walked closer to the door and it opened by itself. Ratchet followed me into my room, which really was a huge mess, but it didn't seem to mind him much. In fact, it seemed to fascinate him.

"Wooow!" He cheered, walking over to some random parts and taking them into his hands. He looked at them carefully, then giving me a shy glance. "Is it okay, if I..." He showed me the parts, which I thought meant that he wanted to play with them.

"Go ahead. Just don't break anything." I granted, which made him happy as ever. But whatever he began to do, was not what I expected. He took out his wrench and started building. Feeling like I should stop him, I couldn't pull myself to it; I was too curious to see what he was doing. It didn't take him too long to finish whatever he was working on and he then showed it to me; it was a small, gun-like thing and he watched it with pride.

"Ta-da!" He grinned widely, place the back of the gun against his shoulder.

"That is quite remarkable. What is it?" I asked in pure curosity. Ratchet pointed the gun at the ceiling with an even wider grin.

"This!" He shot and a hook attached to a wire came out. It attached to the well and pulled Ratchet with him. "Whoa!" It shot him up fast and he even hit his head in the ceilng, but he wouldn't let go.

"Are you alright!" I panicked, but he just laughed it off. He just rubbed his head with his free hand and laughed.

"It's a grappling hook!" He cheered.

"How on earth were you able to make one, just like that?" The question made him a little confused.

"I'm not... So sure. I've just always had it in me, I suppose." He snickered. The grappling hook then lost it's grab and Ratchet fell down on the floor with a squeal.

"Ratchet!" I rushed to him quickly, checking if he had hurt himself. "Are you alright?" The question received an amused snicker, which soon turned to a laugh.

"I guess it wasn't too perfect." Cheerfully commenting on his little failure, I chuckled and offered my hand for him once again, helping him back up.

"You're quite extraordinary, Ratchet." I smiled.

Ratchet laughed, scratching his head while looking confused. "I don't even know what that means!"

This kid was going to be something, I could just tell.


	3. Chapter 3

Ratchet looked around shyly, but tried to look brave. I watched him, interested on his motions and actions which were inspired by his unstoppable curiosity. I stood by the doorway to the cockpit, waiting for the lombax to take in his surroundings, so he wouldn't feel unsafe.

"Want to go, then?" I asked softly and he looked at me, dashing to me with quick steps.

"Yeah! Everything here just looks so cool!" Ratchet cheered as he stopped next to me, extremely excited. He certainly changed fast from what he was on the planet Veldin.

"Well, it's not much, but we get by." Giving him a simple comment, we walked inside the cockpit, where everyone else was. Captain Qwark was sitting on his "throne of heroes" as he called it, Helga was giving him weird looks from her seat by the computers where she used to sit and Al sat on the other side of the room, typing his own things on his computer and probably being the only one working in this room as usual. I used to help him, but I mostly investigated planets more than sat here. "That there is Helga." I pointed at the female robot, who kept on ignoring both me and Ratchet. "And that is Al." Saying this received the mentioned man's attention and he gave us a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, Clank, who's this?" He asked and before I could tell him, Ratchet spoke for himself.

"I'm Ratchet!" He proudly presented himself while looking around in awe. "This place is way cool! I bet you've travelled all across the galaxy with this thing!"

"You bet, young lad!" Captain Qwark stood up, puffing his chest bridefully as he placed his fist on it. "This baby has seen many battles and many planets! Qwark Junior, as I like to call her!"

This received a snicker from Ratchet, which he badly tried to hold in. He glanced at Clank, who looked like he would like to not hear Qwark's speeches again. "Seriously?"

"Believe me, it's one of the least ridicilous ones." Clank commented, making the lombax's eyes grow wider. The robot walked closer to Captain Qwark, who was going on about the ship and mostly on how amazing he had been on leading it. "Perhaps we should decide whether or not we will leave this planet? I believe there are still people who require our assistance."

"Never mind that! We are needed elsewhere! For a more important mission!" Captain Qwark cheered as he turned to the windows of the cockpit, hands on his hips. "The president himself has called upon us! Al, start the ship, will ya?"

"The controls are in front of you!" Al shook his eyes as he kept working on his own things, which mostly consisted of him uphrading the defense systems and making the ship's weapons more useful in battles and what not. He had no time for controlling the ship, since it degraded his intelligence or so he once told me.

"Oh, look at that! Good job!" Qwark praised, sitting down on his throne, putting the ship in autopilot so he could rest up.

"I'll be in my room, then." I sighed as I turned to leave the room. I gave Ratchet a short glance as still looked around in excitement, so I decided to leave him there and allow him to take his own time to take in the surroundings. At the moment, I couldn't really take Captain Qwark's actions or decisions so I left the room, heading for my own. I could at least rest up before the president's mission, whatever it was; I just couldn't help but feel a little guilty for the people, who possibly needed help. I only wished I could fight better.

"You miserable rodent!" I could hear Helga snap, which made me instantly turn around, but before I could run back, Ratchet came out of the room and ran behind me. "I'll teach you to mess with my work!" She snarled, running up to us, stopping right before me. "Clank, get out of the way! This rodent needs discipline and I've got extra rounds of that!"

"It sure looks like it..." Ratchet commented, which made Helga snarl even more. I gave him a glare, getting a nervous grin from him. It seemed that I may have miscalculated the ups on bringing Ratchet onto the ship.

"You filthy little-" Helga began to growl, which I had to interrupt so she would not attack the child.

"Come now, Helga. He is just a small child. What could he have possibly done that he would need this kind of treatment?" I asked calmly, while she still huffed with anger.

"He called me fat!" She snarled, which made me sigh. I didn't even know she would get angry over something like that. It's not like she cared what other people thought.

"I only asked why..." Ratchet whispered.

"Please, Ratchet, be quiet." I commanded and he did just that. "And Helga, would punishing him over that really accomplish something? I'm sure Captain Qwark would expect more from you." Mentioned said captain always helped to distract Helga from the matter at hand and as she commented something under her breath, she returned back to the cockpit with a glee she always got when thinking of that man. I turned to Ratchet and placed my hands on my hips, giving him an angry look. He squealed faintly, backing off a bit. "Look." I began calmly, not wanting to scare him off too much. "I know you are excited to be here, but I merely ask you to behave. I can not keep you safe constantly. Helga is a very cabable woman and she can AND will do anything to anyone, who anger her. She hostile to most people, so I suggest you to not make it worse." I lectured as Ratchet scratched the back of his head with a faint grin. His gestures made me doubt that he understood what I had just said.

"I'm sorry..." He apologized, which was a good start. This still would not do.

"I only want you safe, Ratchet. Please do not do anything foolish." I spoke with a softer voice, giving him more of a worried look this time.

"I'll try not to." He smiled childishly, his tail swaying from side to side. "But only not to you."

"Excuse me?" I asked, not fully understanding what he meant, but he didn't seem like he wanted to answer me.

"Where could I get some sleep? I'm beat." He yawned and I could help but smile at that. I walked him to my room and gave him a spot that wasn't as filled with the "scrap metal" that invaded my room. He curled into a ball, smiling as he drifted off to sleep and his tail swinging and twitching along with the dreams he possibly saw.

I kept on working on my own things for a while, trying to be as quiet as possible. Occasionally, I looked over to Ratchet to check if he was sleeping calmly. It was surprisingly calming to see him lay there in peace, still smiling and still twitching to his dreams. I could not even begin to guess what tomorrow would bring, but I would try my best to keep him on the right path.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hnngh..." I could hear a faint whimper in the back of my head, but decided to ignore as I just imagined it was the ship making strange sounds like that. I'm not even sure what I thought of it, but it was not much. I was exhausted and my system needed the recharge, since I did not have much time to do so in the past days. "Unh..." I could hear it again, but my mind kept ignoring it. What could it have been anyw-

That's right, the child!

I opened my eyes and sat up just as quickly, looking over to Ratchet, who was not sleeping too far from me. He was still curled in to a ball, but it seemed more stiff and unpleasant. He was shaking and his face was bearing a distressed frown. It seemed that he was having a nightmare. Of course, not wanting the boy to lose a good night's rest, I slowly moved to his side and placed my hand on his shoulder, carefully shifting him awake.

"Ratchet?" I called calmy, which made him do a couple of bigger twitches. He was about to wake up, but I would have to shake him up a bit more to get him around. "Ratchet." I raised my voice a little and let out a sob before opening his eyes. He blinked in confusion, his eyes widening as he looked me into the eyes and looking quite frightened. Before I could say anything, he suddenly jumped off and ran into the corner of the room and sat down on the floor, burying his face into his knees. He kept shaking and it looked like he was trying to silence himself. "What's wrong? Are you feeling ill?" I asked in concern, but kept my voice as normal as I could. Following him to his spot only made Ratchet more tense, which certainly raised a few questions in my mind.

"I-I'm okay... Just n-need a moment..." He whimpered as he spoke, sounding as if he was trying to make himself look brave.

"Were you having a nightmare?" I sat next to him, carefully caressing his back as an attempt to comfort him. He slowly looked up to me with tears in his eyes, his face full of sorrow and fear. Slowly he nodded and I spread my arms for him, in case he needed a hug to treat it. While I could not give that warm nor soft of an embrace, it seemed to be enough for Ratchet. He hugged me tightly and cried into my shoulder. "Why did you ran off?" I asked, wanting to know why he was acting in such a way. This kind of thing was very new to me and had I never seen it happen to other people in either public or in movies, I woudln't really know what to do in the slightest. At least for now, I got the hug part of the comfort right.

"Crying m-makes you we-weak..." Ratchet slightly stuttered, sniffling and still shedding tears. He wasn't crying too heavily, it was merely a small sob or so the boy made it seem. The way he was shaking, Clank could tell he was holding onto so much more.

"No it doesn't, don't be silly." I said, wanting to correct his statement. "Shedding salty water from your eyes does not have the ability to physic-"

"I-in the mind!" Ratchet snapped, which made me close my mouth well enough. "I have to b-be strong!" He whimpered, which only made his crying worse and his grip on me tighter. "The same n-nightmm-mare..." I caressed his back with my hand, subconciously waving myself and Ratchet back and forth with slow speed.

"Has this occured before?" Not wanting to scare him more, I tried keeping my voice as gentle as possible, but I was not yet certain if it was working or not.

"So m-many nights..." He sniffled again, pulling back from me and beginning to rub his eyes from his tears. He began to hiccup, while he kept his teeth tightly together. It was almost like he was in deep pain.

The thought then occured to me like a lightning: Of course he waould be afraid, of course he would be seeing nightmares, of course he would be crying like this. What else did he have until this day? He was an orphan, after all. He had been alone when he found him, but who knows how long. "It's okay, Ratchet..." I placed my hands on his shoulder, but he would keep his eyes hidden behind his fists. "You're not alone anymore. I'm here to help you." I told him with a smile, which made him peek from behind his fists, his eyes red from crying.

"I-I never... Knew my... My family..." He explained between faint hiccups- "No-one was there... For me... I was alone and..." He sniffled, wiping his nose into his arm as he stared at the floor with an empty look on his face. "There never was anyone..." He looked up to me with the saddest gaze I ever had seen anyone make; he was truly broken. "I'm not good with people... I've never been in contact with too many before..."

I watched him silently for a while, gazing into his eyes that wanted to tell me so much, but was too afraid to. There was so much lonliness in those eyes, which I could kind of feel. While I had a home and I was living with the crew, I felt so lonely. Al was extremely intelligent and striking up a conversation with him was easy, but there was something misssing. Something way bigger. Something this kid needed as well.

Someone to talk to, someone to share things with, someone to love, like a... Friend. Like a family.

Smiling to the lombax, I petted his head gently, which he seemed to approve. "It's okay. I can understand that. From a slightly different point of view, though." I chuckled and it seemed to make him smile as well, even though a few tears were still rolling down his cheek. "But you're not alone anymore and for the record, I plan on preventing that from happening again." His eyes lit up as I explained this, a spark of joy and hope finally shining through him. He quickly wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tighter than before, only this time it seemed to be out of happiness.

"Thank you..." He mumbled, snuggling my shoulder with a soft purr. "I will make you proud." He added, which made my heart sink. Not out of sadness or disapprovement, but out of... I wasn't even sure myself. It was such a new experience of feeling for me that I didn't know what to make of it. It was a good feeling nevertheless and I was happy to share such a feeling with someone. Even if Ratchet was still a child, he seemed to understand more than certain adults I knew. He just needed a little bit of guidance and I was more than happy to assist my young friend in such a mission.


	5. Chapter 5

We landed on planet Marcadia, preparing to meet with President Phyronix and receive our next mission. I could not think of anything so bad to happen that the president himself would want a word with us. It's not like we were too strong of a team to begin with, but because Captain Qwark was there, we were even more so popular.

"Can't I come with you?" I heard the begging voice of the young lombax, who stood behind me as sorted out a few things on my table.

"It is only Qwark's business and mine there. You will stay here with Al and Helga until we return." I explained calmly, which didn't really reduce the form of a pout Ratchet had on his face.

"But she scares me! And the other one is so nerdy. I have no idea what he's talking about!" Ratchet whined. I gave him a chuckle and jumped off my chair, placing my hand on his shoulder and giving him an assuring smile.

"Do not worry, Ratchet. We will not be gone for long." Giving him a careful ruffle on the head, I chuckled again and walked out of the room. Ratchet followed me, walking with me to the exit of the ship. Captain Qwark was there, looking as proud as he possibly could.

"Let's get to it, then! The president is expecting us!" He walked out of the ship as proudly as he had stood and I turned to Ratchet, waving my hand a bit.

"Stay out of trouble." I said with another smile, running after Qwark. In truth, I was worried about Ratchet myself, but I could not bring the child with me to meet the president. We crossed the hallways, the security robots greeting us and showing us the way to the president's room.

It didn't take us too long to reach the room and as we entered, we were greeted highly by the president. Well, mainly Qwark was, anyway.

"Good to see you, Captain Qwark! I am very happy that you've come here to help us!" The president shook Qwark's hand and turned his attention to me, giving me a slighlty more calm of a handshake. "I've heard good words about you, as well!"

"Now that we got that out of the way, what seems to be bothering you, Mr. President?" Qwark grinned widely, giving the impression that he was more than eager to do the mission. The President sighed and walked back to his desk, sitting down on his seat and the two of us followed him to the desk, stopping in front of it so he could properly see us.

"Well, you see, I've been informed of a dangerous man that is about to do unspeakable things in this galaxy." The president began, crossing his fingers as his hands lay on the table. "This is top secret and I thought you and your crew would be able to take care of it, knowing how good of a reputation you're holding. People are very pleased with your work in helping everyone in need."

"Of course!" Qwark bragged, his fists resting on his hips as he raised his chin, showing that enormous grin he carried around. "If it comes to saving the galaxy, I am the right man to do it!"

"I'm sure I can bet on that!" The President cheered, giving a light grin of his own. "I am willing to give the Galactic Rangers in your use as well. I am sure you will need their aid."

"Excuse me for a moment, Mr. President." I interrupted as I raised my finger, feeling rather stressed about the mission now. Galactic Rangers? What could be this bad? "What exactly is the mission, if we will be needing your army in doing it?"

"Well, you see..." The President opened one of the folders on his desk, taking out a photo and sliding it across the table for us to see. I had to stand on my toes to see it, because of my short height. "I want you to get this man, Chairman Drek, as he goes by. He's been doing some dangerous things lately that could hurt innocent lives in the progress or even kill them."

"What did he do?" I asked, Qwark watching the photo on thought. He was silent, which kind of scared me.

"He is stealing planetary components, ripping them apart. For what reason, it is not quite clear to me." THe President explained in an odd, calm manner.

"He what now?" Qwark asked in confusion.

"So you want us to find out his motives and arrest him?" I questioned, to which the President slightly nodded.

"Exactly. He might have an army of his own, so I would like to offer mine to help you out." The mission certainly did not seem good. Who knows what Drek would do to stop us and how bad his motives were, but as long as lives were in danger, we would have to do our best to help them. I'm just afraid the President puts more faith into Qwark than is really necessary; he may be a well known super hero, but he doesn't really do much to be worthy of the title. It's always the others doing the work and him taking the credit for it.

"We'll get on it, sir!" Qwark chirped and saluted the President. At least he seemed to have some manners left in him.

We left the room, the President shouting "We're counting on you!" after us. I couldn't help but feel worried for what was ahead of us. As we reached our ship, we watched Al and Helga outside the ship, looking around and calling for something. They used the names such as "furball", "little terror" and "menace", mostly used by Helga.

"What is the problem?" I asked, both of them looking at me with a faint grin.

"Well, you see, uhm..." Al tapped his fingertips together, not looking too comfortable at the moment. almost like he was expecting an attack. "We may have run into some difficulties."

"Such as...?" This was not sounding good. "Did something happen to the ship? Oh, no... Don't tell me, Ratchet-"

"He didn't do anything, don't worry! The ship is fine!" Al gave a nervous laugh.

"What is with this? You two make no sense!" Qwark shook his head with a grin as he raised his eyebrow.

"Well, SOMEONE here decided to scare a certain kid off!" Al snarled, glaring at Helga.

"I was just trying to make him into a man!" She snarled back, returning the glare.

"What have you done? Where is Ratchet?" I gave them both a small glare as I began to feel more angry and more worried.

"That, well, we're not completely sure, because he ran out of the ship and we kind of... Lost him." Al explained, giving a faint laugh. This couldn't possible be happening.

"Lost him?" I said angrily, dashing into a random direction. I had no idea where the child would be, but going into any direction was better than stading still. "I'm going after him!" I yelled as I dashed off, all of them looking after me. Qwark made a comment about me and so did the other two, but I was too busy to register their words. I had to find Ratchet!


	6. Chapter 6

Watching Clank leave made my stomach twist a bit. I knew no-one would do anything to me when he was around, but now that I was alone with these two... I didn't know if I could take it. The nerdy one wasn't too bad, but the fat lady... She scared the life out of me!

I headed back towards Clank's room, hoping I could stay safe in the room while Clank was gone, but knowing how my luck had been in the past... Well, it didn't smile on me this time, either.

"Well, well, who do we have here!" The woman's voice made me snarl and I stopped by the door to Clank's room. I slowly turned to her as she came out of her room and stopped at a fair distance from me, her hands on her large, large hips. I still can't understand how she's so huge. Was she built like that? Why would they do that? It didn't make sense! "Little furball on the loose, hmm?"

"I just went to see Clank leave... I'm going back to the room." I said, little frightened. I tried to look brave, but I wasn't too good at defending myself from such large enemies. She was supposed to be a "friend", but I can't really see that side in her and she had many of those.

"Hah! Go back to the room, he says! Now, we begin our fierce training! Look at you, you're so puny! If you're going to be in our crew, you have to be strong, agile and be of use to the captain!" The woman said in a tone that was filled with excitement and resentment. I couldn't handle this!

"A-ah, it's okay... I'd rather wait for Clank." I grinned nervously, taking a careful towards the room, but then she tried to reach out for me and I had to run away.

"Come back, furball! This is no time for games!" She snarled, coming after me when I ran outside, quickly looking around and running anywhere I could, so that she would not be able to follow me. Hiding behind objects certainly helped me. "COME OUT, NOW!" She screamed after me, even making Al come outside and see what was happening.

"Hmh!" I huffed, running off from the scenario. I had no clue where I was going, but I would NOT spend any time with that lunatic! There was no harm in taking a look around while Clank was having his meeting, right? I knew where the ship was. I could still see it; barely, but I still saw it. I would just have to stay in a fair distance, so I could see when to go back. I just hoped Clank wasn't going to be mad...

Sighing, I took a hold of my wrench that was hanging onto my back. The belt I wore was magnetic on the back side, so I could easily attach my tool and weapon in it. I smiled at the wrench, feeling quite safe with carrying it. I've always had it and I have no idea where I got it from, but it was my first posession ever. It's been so faithful and sadly, my only friend. Well... Not my only friend, not anymore.

I glanced over to the ship once more and stick my tongue out to it with a "bleh" sound. Stupid Helga.

Still, now that I was out, I could explore a bit! I had never been on this planet before and it seemed interesting enough. Marcadia, I think it was? It had a few similarities to Veldin, but it was a lot bigger and livelier. It seemed like a lot of fun!

I walked around a bit, watching the people all around going along their own businesses. I had never seen so many people at once and it certainly made me stare at them with wide eyes. No-one seemed to care much for me and they kept on going their own business. I smiled a little and decided to turn around and begin heading towards the ship. After all, staring at the people had taken me a whi-

Why can't I see the ship?

"Oh, crap..." I swore, my ears lowering down in shame. Walking in the traffic of people had distracted me so much that I forgot to memorize the way, or at least stop myself from going further! In fact, why DIDN'T I do that?! This was not good...

"Hi there, lil' fella! Ya lost?" I heard someone behind me, which made me a bit scared. Quickly, I turned my head to face him with the bravest expression I could have. It soon turned to admiration when I saw who it was. "Skid McMarx?! Is that you?! You're awesome!" I cheered, my eyes widening in glee.

"The real deal, man!" The green alien laughed goofily, kneeling down to my level and petting my head. "Ya don' seem like a local, man!"

"You aren't either! Your planet was that... Uhh... Rigrall... Something..." I mumbled, which made the professional hoverboarder laugh. I might've never had my own tv, but I liked to spy other people and learned a few things about cool people in the galaxy, like Skid McMarx!

"Rilgar, dude! Most awesome place in da galaxeeh!" Skid laughed again, which made me grin wider than ever. "Anyway, what're ya doin' in 'ere? Where ya parents?" He asked, making me a bit sad. My parents...

"I don't have..." I mumbled again, which made Skid panic just a little bit.

"Oh, sorry kid! But you're not alone 'ere, are ya?" He asked, which made me smile a little bit. I shook my head as an answer and he sighed in relief. "That's good! Do ya need help finding 'em?" He offered, which made me grin wide again. My idol wanted to help me!

"YES!" I cheered, which made me back away a bit from embarrassment. "Of course... If you're able to?" Nervously, I gave him an awkward laugh, but he stood up and gave me a thumbs up.

"Sure thing, lil' dude!" He offered me his hand and began to walk me out of the crowd of people. "Do you remember where they were?"

"Well, they were going to meet the president, but I don't-" I began explaining, but got interrupted by the green man.

"The president? Wow, you know some people, kid!" He cheered, watching me in awe. It's like we were imitating each others expressions. "No worries, though, I know where his place is!" He smiled goofily and he walked me towards the place. I had really wondered off without knowing it myself! I sure hope I could get back, before Clank found out.

"Ratchet!" And there it was, Clank's voice. He was running towards us and I could see from afar that he looked quite worried. I was expecting him to be mad, to be honest. Skid let go of me and I ran to Clank, hugging him tightly as I got close enough.

"Clank! I'm so sorry! Helga was so scary, I had to run away! ThenIsawpeopleandgotexcitedandImetSkidMcMaexandand -!" I explained in fear filled excitement; fear for what Clank was gonna do and excitement for the adventure I had. It was fun! But getting lost was really shameful...

"You brought him here?" Clank asked from Skid, who smiled assuringly.

"Sure did, tin man! The kid's got attitude! Was lost in the crowd, so I wanted to help the poor guy out!" He grinned, which made Clank glare him a little. Skid didn't care for it and as I let go of Clank and turned to him, he just took my hand and shook it. "See ya again, lil' dude! I gotta run! Be sure to root for me in the next race!" He laughed, dashing off to the same direction as we came from.

"I will! You're gonna win, man!" I cheered after him, raising a fist in the air. Giving a soft giggle at the awesome moment of meeting Skid and having him shake my hand, I couldn't help but feel good. Then I heard Clank made a couple of sounds. One was a short clashing of metal, which indicated that he had crossed his arms, possibly in anger. The little grunt also hinted towards that. I slowly turned to face the robot of the same size as me and yes, he was definitely mad. Shit.

"What on EARTH were you thinking?" Clank watched me angrily, which made me whimper. I tried to contain it, but couldn't do it with him. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" He gave me a lecture in such a calm voice, which made me feel even more scare. I don't know if he was cabable of yelling or if it was just his thing. Either way, it worried me.

"No, I..." I looked down at my feet, biting my lower lip as I felt a sob form in my throat. I tried my best not to let out out, though. After all, it was kind of my own fault. "I'm sorryyyyy!" I let out a cry, couple of tears coming out of my eyes that I tightly closed shut. I told myself I wouldn't cry! Men don't cry! MEN DON'T CRY!

"Ratchet." Clank said with a much soften tone and when I opened my eyes to see his expression, he was giving me a smile. He didn't look mad, he just looked... Worried. "Don't cry." He said, petting my head carefully, making me pout.

"I'm not crying..." I snarled silently. He just chuckled.

"I was just worried when I heard you ran away. It's my fault for leaving you like that... You're not used to this crew, I should have known better." He smiled, but looked so guilty while doing so. How he was able to give so many expressions was beyond me and my understanding.

I chuckled, wiping my eyes with my fists. "It's okay." I simply replied.

"But let us go back. We received our mission and we must act fast." Clank smiled, taking a hold of my hand and leading me back towards the ship. "Don't you run off like that again. I'll tell you how to lock the door to my room, so you can stay safe in there, alright?" He offered, which made me grin happily again.

"Sure!"


	7. Chapter 7

"Now, where do we find this Drek fella?" Qwark asked as he rubbed his chin while bearing that wide, goofy grin of his. He sat on his "throne" that was in the middle of the cockpit, which obviously made him feel more superior than any of us in the ship. To say the least, I was not very amused with it. He was always fooling around, more so than I was. Still, I did admire his work and his popularity; he was a super hero, after all.

"Well, judging by the news I just watched on my screen, you know, the one YOU saw as well..." I rolled my eyes, speaking with the sarcastic tone I usually had (apparently), but no matter how subtle or obvious my sarcasm or irony was, he never got it. It could have been that he got it, just didn't care. "Judging by that, his target at the moment is planet Novalis." I explained, trying to make it as simple as possible so that our dear captain would get it. Wow, I'm sarcastic even in my own mind.

"To Novalis then it is!" Captain Qwark cheered as he stood up, rotating his hand in the air and pointing his index finger towards the ceiling. He made no sense.

"What is our plan?" Clank asked as he walked towards me, knowing that it was useless to ask Qwark. He usually made the plans, but I made them work.

"To be honest, I'm not even quite so sure. This guy probably has a big robot army defending him and we're supposed to arrest him how now?" I raised my eyebrow at the small robot, who stroked the back of his head, looking down in silence. Great, even he had no idea.

"We will walk up to him and we will Q-FORCE justice into him!" Qwark spoke with a brave tone in his voice, but as usual, he had no idea what lay ahead. He always thought he could win everything just by showing his face and muscles, while the rest of us did the actual work. "Heh, get it, Q-Force!" Qwark added and both I and Clank slapped our own faces with our hands. This was too much.

"I seriously doubt that to be a good idea." I looked at the captain over my shoulder, but he was in his own world of super hero fantasy. This was just great, a great threat to the galaxy was on the loose and our captain was daydreaming. None of us were really fighters, so it would be difficult to overcome this one, especially if robot armies were included.

"I suppose we could try and reason with this person. Maybe he will listen." Clank suggested, but I knew he didn't even fully mean that. He was smarter than that.

"Yeah, obviously. Just as much as he does." I pointed at Qwark, who stood by his seat, hands on his hips and his grin towards the windows. It was just too hopeless and I began to wonder; why did I ever join him?

"What will you do, smack him? Kick him? Push him into a pit?!" An eager voice spoke from where Qwark was. That's right, the kid... He was standing next to the captain, watching him admiringly. If only the poor kid knew what he really was like. Qwark grinned at the kid and he began to explain his plan, which he had just made up using the words the kid had uttered. The plan was ridiculous and would never work, especially when the captain was something that he never wanted anyone to know. His darkest secret... Yeah, darkest secret my hiney, everyone knew it; he was a raging coward.

The more Qwark explained his plan, the more excited the kid became. He even took a hold of his wrench that he carried around and swung it a few times, Qwark even patting him on the head. To me, it looked like the kid could get more done than the captain. It was really no wonder that Clank had wanted him to join. Well, to be honest, I didn't really fancy kids that much myself and Ratchet was no exception, but there was this strange feeling of hope I was getting off of him. Despite that, I still didn't want to see him fooling around my room or my stuff and he could be really troublesome. Thankfully, he didn't feel the need to tease on me as much as on Helga and to the kid's defense; she had it coming.

I put in the coordinates to planet Novalis and ship began to fly towards it. Even though Captain Qwark was amazingly good at flying a ship, he wouldn't do much of it. The autopilot was all we really needed and even that was thanks to me. It felt rough sometimes to be the brain of the group. If it weren't for Clank's presence in the ship, I'd lose my mind.

Not paying attention to anyone by this point, I decided to play a vid-comic to kill some time. None of them cared anyway, so I was free to do so. As the game began, I saw something with the corner of my eye and I slightly turned my head, seeing the kid stand next to my seat. He was watching the game, astounded. I had never seen an excited expression like that, not over a vid-comic. "What?" I asked him in an annoyed manner, but he just looked at me curiously.

"This is a vid-comic! I've seen some kids play them before!" The kid's eyes were shining as he watched me in a respective manner. I really had no idea what I was supposed to do or say, so I just stared. "Can I watch you play?" He asked me with a wide grin, almost as wide as Qwark's grin, but not nearly as egomanical.

"You can try playing it, if you want." I said, not really thinking it through and the excitement in the kid rose; if he'd keep this up, he'd explode. "Just don't break anything." I stood up from my seat and let him take my place. I gave him the controller and he took a good look of it, then he looked up to the screen, a little confused what to do. "There's a tutorial. It tells you what to do." I explained him and pushed one of the buttons to start the game. Needless to say, the kid seemed to be in heaven and to be fair, for what I assumed was a first time, he wasn't doing so bad.

"That was very kind of you, Al." Clank walked up to me, smiling. I snorted, fixing the position of my glasses.

"Only this once." I said with annoyance in my voice, but I guess it felt kind of flattering that the kid had given me a much more admiring look than he had given Qwark.


	8. Chapter 8

A heavy sigh escaped from me as I was inspecting my Blaster, making sure it was in proper order before going out to possibly fight with some robots. Sure we would try and reason with them at first, but knowing how Qwark could act at times, a fight would be inevitable. Hopefully, this gun would be all I needed.

My concentration was cracking a little bit as Ratchet sat on the bed, pouting like there was no tomorrow. After what had happened before, he really didn't want to stay in the ship without my presence, but I really couldn't take him with me. Even though he said he understood, he still must've felt betrayed.

"Please, Ratchet." I said after a while of silence, which only made him huff in frustration. "I do not wish to leave you again like this, but you have to understand that I have responbilities to attend to. The safety of the galaxy could depend on it."

"That makes me sound really selfish, you know..." Ratchet whimpered a little and I turned around on my seat, giving him a kind smile.

"Yes." I said, rather sharply. I jumped off the chair and walked over to the bed, looking up to Ratchet. "But I do understand. It has not been easy for you." I climbed on the bed and sat down next to Ratchet, who kept looking away from me, a little hurt. "I wish I could be with you, Ratchet, but there are other people to protect as well." I tried explaining, only getting a sad look from the child.

"You'll come back, right...?" He asked, almost sounding like he was about to cry. The question certainly surprised me and it took me a while to fully register it and answer it.

"Of course I will." I blinked a couple of times as his lips began to form a small smile. He was certainly strange at times. I jumped off the bed and went to my work desk, getting my Blaster and then headed for the exit of my room. Before I could reach it, though, Ratchet jumped off the bed and called for me.

"Clank, can I ask something?" He asked hesitantly and I asked around with a small sigh that I doubt he heard. It wasn't that much out of frustration, but it just felt like he was trying to keep me from leaving for purpose. He had been doing that for quite a while, after all. I gave him a simple nod and his expression turned into a mix of curiosity, sorrow and worry. "Why me?"

The question, again, made me blink. This time out of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Why did you save me?" He asked more specifically and before I could really give an answer, he continued. "You have saved so many people, at least from what I understand. No matter what age or race, you help them. No matter if they have or don't have anyone. So why did you save me like this? Why did you want me to live with you?" I felt as if the question was making me malfunction. I really couldn't recall why I had specifically saved him and invited him to live with us. It had just felt like it was the right thing to do.

"You are full of potential, Ratchet." I began explaining and it was now his turn to blink in confusion. "No doubt, I have saved plenty of people before, some of them being orphans like you, but I knew orphanage would offer a lot more than I ever could." Even though I couldn't recall my actual intentions, the explanation I gave wasn't a lie. I wasn't really good at that sort of thing.

"So what made me so special?" Ratchet tilted his head while I let out a quiet laugh.

"You are a fighter, Ratchet. Orphanage would not suit you very well." I pointed my finger towards Ratchet. Well, actually, a little over his shoulder where the shaft of his wrench could be seen. He looked at it, then back at me, going back and forth like that a couple of times. "You are cabale of things that not all are at around your age. Your tool and a weapon is a proof of that. I just want to make sure your potential doesn't go the wrong way." I lowered my hand and walked closer to him, placing my hand on his shoulder as he watched me, admiringly. "_You belong here_. That is what I thought."

Ratchet's eyes grew wider as he took in my words and he didn't seem to know what to really think of it. He seemed to be happy, but still quite embarrassed. "That's... I don't know what to say..." He let out an awkward laugh as he looked away for a moment, only to give me a smile along with a shy blush when he looked back at me. "Thank you, I suppose."

I couldn't help but smile back. "You're a brave child, Ratchet. I could not imagine how long you have been alone and what you have possibly gone through, but I know you can take care of yourself. You now have a home; you're safe here. What do you have to be afraid in here?"

"Helga." He instantly answered, grinching his teeth.

"I am sure she is not the worst you have seen." I chuckled, while he gave a scared grin.

"You'd be surprised." He whimpered a little, letting out a heavy sigh of defeat as he pushed my hand off and eventually smiled. "But I get it. It's just..." He began as he closed his eyes and looked like he was in pain as he tried getting the next words out. "I've been left alone before. I can't know that won't happen again." He was afraid and it was really not a big surprise. I never wanted to bother him by his past and ask him questions that would make him upset. If Ratchet wanted to talk, he was free to do so. I had no idea what he had been through and what had happened to him, only that he had no memory of his parents and how he had gotten on Veldin. Who knows if someone had tried to take him along, but had left him there alone, which would make it understandbale that Ratchet was a little clingy.

"I won't leave you, Ratchet. You are the only one who is not making me lose my sanity in this ship." I smiled at him, finally making him laugh. It was so much better to see him happy. "You seem so much mature than the rest of the crew." I added, which made him snort lightly. He just shook his head and walked away from me, sitting down on an empty spot on the floor that was surrounded by my collection of scrab metal and all kinds of different parts for devices and what not.

"You go save the world then. I'll stay here and build something. I don't want to cause trouble." Ratchet said as he began to go through the parts, collecting them between his legs in order to build whatever he had in mind. I was just glad that he finally understood.

"I will lock the door, so you won't have to be afraid. You can open ít from the inside, of course." I told him as I walked to the door that opened before me and I looked over my shoulder to give him a last glance before I would go for the mission. "Be good, now." He only nodded with a wide grin, going back to his project. The door closed when I had passed by it, and I typed the code on the numbad to close the door. We all had our sense of privacy, so we all had the lock system for our rooms. I couldn't imagine what it would be like if there was no such option and I couldn't work on my own projects in peace.

With another sigh, I headed for the hangar, not really sure what to expect from the following mission and its dangers.


	9. Chapter 9

Hiding behind a rock wasn't something I wasn't too used to do. I did it a lot, since I wasn't much of a fighter but more of a negotiator. Negotiating didn't always work out, so the best thing was to hide behind things and steal a couple of shots at the enemy as was the case of the current situation. The rock wasn't that huge, but it was enough for both I and Qwark to hide behind. We could hear the Birdbots looking for us now and we could only hope a Peckbot would not fly over us and give off our location. Of course, I was quite certain this would soon happen with our luck, but I luckily already had a plan. Well, at least a concept of a plan.

"May I say something, captain Qwark?" I said as I carefully peeked from behind the rock, watching where the robots were patrolling. I would have shot them, but my weapon was sort of in the middle of the patrolling machines.

"Yeah?" Qwark just grinned goofily, showing that scared stare he often had. More than he'd like to even realize. He was also shaking as he hugged his knees and looked around in paranoia.

"Next time, let me handle the talking, alright? I would very much like to keep a hold of my weapon, if I happen to be carrying one." I said with a calming voice like I usually did. It wouldn't have mattered if I had scolded Qwark for raising his egoistic voice of reason to the bots, angering them and getting himself scared out of his mind. I can not know why it had taken me out of surprise and made me drop my weapon. Maybe it was the fact that he just turned to run into my direction and made me fall in the progress, making me drop my weapon and, well, I really had only two options: run away and stay alive, or stay, retrieve my weapon and die. There had been too many angered bots to stay around for one weapon. Too bad Qwark had dropped his own as well, so we had no way of protecting ourselves. Honestly, I would be lying if I said I wasn't even a little bit angry.

"Ah, gotcha!" He let out a goofy laugh, the kind where he knows he did something bad, but won't really take responsibility in it later. It was all too familiar. "So, any plans?" He asked as his voice was more shaky this time.

"In progress." I replied, turning to him and sharing an eyecontact with him. "I have a plan on getting both of the weapons back, so we can attack, but there is one problem. A huge problem."

"What... Kind of a problem?" Qwark asked as his eyes widened from fear.

"It requires your co-operation." I simply said and it didn't take long for his expression turn into hurt.

"That was an insult, wasn't it?" He gave me a pout, showing it clear that he was offended, even though he didn't seem to be fully sure why.

"We need to create diversion. I will go for the weapons, since I'm small enough for them to overlook me." I explained and Qwark was becoming scared again.

"Don't say it..."

"You will be-"

"Don't!"

"-the diversion."

"No deal!" Qwark denied, crossing his arms as he looked away, hurt again. What was I thinking, asking Qwark to do something for the team. I never do learn, do I?

"Qwarl, I will be honest with you; the situation is quite bad, and if we do not receive our weapons back, we might not make it out alive. You know I can not fight well with my fists like you and even you seem to be doing quite badly at it at the moment."

"Hey!" Qwark snapped and I had to shush him so the robots would not hear us. I fear it was already too late, though.

"All you need to do is to run and hide, nothing more. You just have to keep the attention of the enemy on yourself, while I get back the weapons and shoot them down." I explained and Qwark was more than hesitant. He simply did not want to do anything that could damage his "beautiful" face. "Please, Qwark, we must keep going forward. The President is counting on us." It seemed that the mention of the President was the magic word as Qwark's face began to beam with actor's courage (pretty much meaning it was fake) as he glenched his fist and raised it up along with his chin.

"You're right. This isn't about me! This is about the planet! The people! The galaxy! The WORLD!" He grinned in glee to the skies and soon, the bots began to reach our spot, at least judging by the sounds.

"Good work, Qwark. Keep that up." I said as I smiled at him, receiving a confused stare from him.

"Keep what up?" He managed to ask before he noticed the robots following him and he screamed like most of the female species of organic life forms did. He ran away from the robots and I ran for the guns. Most of the robots had their attention on Qwark, but some had very well noticed me and it was now a race for life. Even though I wasn't very athletic, I reached the guns long before the robots and I held both of the blasters, shooting down the robots that came closer.

Once the robots were down, I concentrated on locating Qwark and the army of robots chasing him. It didn't take me long to spot them and Qwark wasn't doing that well. Quickly, I headed to his direction and with the little power I had, I threw the gun to him and he grabbed it with a wide grin, beginning his egoistic gloating of how he was going to turn the robots into dust. Well, he did manage to do that for a few, but I was still better at it. Of course, I wouldn't brag.

"Phew! That was a close one! But yet again, it is I, Captain Copernicus Qwark, that saves the day!" Qwark cheered, looking up to the skies again and I could only sigh. Working with this man was tiring most of the days.

"We must proceed. We have to find out if this Chairman Drek is on this planet or not." I said, heading for the big bridge that had been somewhat damaged. It could still carry people just fine, it was quite sturdy. Qwark walked beside me, but soon took the lead as his steps were quicker than mine. We soon came across a green courier ship, but there was no-one in sight. There weren't even robots around, which gave a rather eerie feeling about the place.

The door of the ship began to open and before it was completely open, we could hear someone whine."Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!" The person whimpered with a shaky voice as he came out of the ship. It was an old man, old enough to need a stick to help him stay on his feet.

"Rest assured, sir. We are not here to hurt you. We are here to assist." I explained kindly and the man looked a little bit relieved, but still suspicious.

"You are, huh? Wow, I can't believe I was saved then!" He took a deep breath, wiping sweat off his forehead and walking a little closer to us. "I don't know what I would have done about to darn robots had you not show up! They were all over the ship!" He laughed, still sounding shaky and scared.

"There was no-one here when we arrived, sir. We did destroy a few of them on our way here." I told him and I could partly see how Qwark was walking somewhere else from us, but I decided to concentrate on the man and his wellbeing. "Are you hurt in anyway?"

"Ah, no! These things just gave me a scare! That blasted Drek dared to invade the planet even though I tried to deny it!" The man spoke angrily as he waved his walking stick around.

"Drek? Was he here?" I asked, blinking a couple of times at the man's rambling.

"Yes. He wanted to take parts of this planet with him for who knows what reason. He sent these robots here to do the work and, well, as our planet is a peaceful place, we don't really have troops." The man explained, shaking in his place. "There's bound to be more, but I don't know what to do!"

"It's alright, sir. I will contact the president and ask him to send some troops to take care of the robots. Do you possibly know where Drek is now? We need to find him and stop him." My question made the man mumble a bit and reach out for something in the ship. As he returned, he was holding an infobot and he offered it to me.

"Here, this should help you. That man is out of his mind, please stop him!" The old man begged and I gave him an assuring smile as I put the infobot inside the hatch in my stomach. We would have to look at it back at the ship.

"We will, sir. Do not worry." I bowed politely and we both gave our gratitudes. He went on his way and I walked over to Qwark, who was narrowing his eyes. "Umm, Qwark? May I ask what it is you are doing?"

"I'm trying to see what's going on at our ship." He was looking to the direction where we left our ship and it wasn't that far from us, but far enough to not being able to see that clearly. I turned to look at the direction and I zoomed in to see what was going on. Sometimes it helped to be a robot.

"Oh no! It is under attack!" I yelped, instantly running towards the ship as fast as I possibly could. Qwark didn't have much time to react and stood there for a while before following me. We both ran so fast, but I could swear I was faster than he was. As small as my feet were, the motivation of not wanting to lose my home and "family" was high enough for me to charge into such speed I had never reached before. If anything happened to Ratchet, he would make sure that the robots would be disassembled into so many tiny pieces that not even nanotech could fix them.

The thought made me shiver; I had never before felt a huge urge like this to protect someone I didn't know much about. As I ran, I couldn't even hear Qwark breathing behind my back anymore.


	10. Chapter 10

A heavy sigh escaped my throat as I flipped around the grappling hook I had made earlier out of a whim. I didn't know why I made it back then, but I felt like I should. I needed to build it. Well, I needed to build and fix anything I could. One could say it was in my blood, but who knows, really. I wonder if the other lombaxes were like me?

The other lombaxes... I really had no idea where they were and why I wasn't with them. I can't remember much as I've pretty much always been alone. Sometimes someone would help me, give me food and a place to sleep in at the coldest nights, but no-one ever really wanted me to stay around for long. I wasn't really good with people and people weren't too good with me. Clank had been kind enough to invite me to LIVE with him and his crew, which really made me happy, but also scared; would this one really be different? Would he really not kick me out of his life like others did? I was afraid of just thinking about it.

My ears twitched as they picked up a strange sound from outside and I could hear Al and Helga talking outside Clank's room, so I stood up and went to see what was going on. I really didn't want to see Helga on my own, but I suppose she wouldn't be bothering me much after she scared me off and Clank was quite angry at her and Al for doing so to me. Well, not so much Al, but he didn't stop me either. I of course got my own share of the scolding, but I could tell he was happy that I was safe. It really did give me hope.

But on to the matter at hand; the ruckus. I unlocked the door and peeked out carefully, and I saw Al panicking while Helga was scolding him for being a coward. I reached my arm over my head, checking my wrench was still intact in the magnet of the belt behind my back. Once I felt it there, I dared to leave the room and walk to the two bizarre characters. "What's going on?" I asked, trying my best to not sound too bothersome, but despite that, Helga turned to me and looked extremely pissed.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?! The little rodent asks what's wrong! I can't believe you are so dull, dull!" Helga threw her fists in the air, making me uneasy. Thankfully, Al stepped between me and her, explaining things like he would to anyone; straightly.

"We're being attacked!" He began to panic again, shaking in his place, his arms doing most of it along with his teeth. He wasn't a fighter in any ways, so it was expected for him to be so scared. "What do we do?! We can't leave without Captain Qwark and Clank!"

"Get a hold of yourself, sissy! Be a man!" Helga snapped, slapping Al's back before she headed for the exit. "I will show you how a real man fights!" She huffed as she opened the door, the robots reaching out for her as the door slowly began to show their faces. Al wasn't the only one panicking anymore; I was too.

"No! Helga! You'll get us killed!" Al whimpered as he began to back away from the door, his back soon reaching a wall and his legs becoming jelly as he was quite afraid to die. I was scared as well, but I couldn't help but freeze in my place and watch Helga smash on the robots. She punched and kicked, even wrestled the robots and she wasn't doing all that bad. Soon, weird, flying robots sneaked inside the ship and Al yelped. Helga looked over to the man and attempted on going after the flying robots, but was too occupied with the ones on the ground. I could help but swallow down a lump of fear; it couldn't possibly be up to me.

Fortunately, the bird-like robots didn't shoot or even charge from the air, but they landed on the ground and began chewing the air with their sharp, metal teeth. I grabbed my wrench faster than the robots had landed and I charged towards them. I wasn't even thinkin clearly as my feet began to carry me and my arm began to smash the robots, being surprisingly effective. The bird robots didn't take too manuy smashes before breaking, small streams of electricity being the only life left in them.

I swung, I jumped, I blocked, I snarled, I smashed. I did everything I had done before to protect myself from different kind of creatures. These were the first robots I ever fought and I was succeeding more than well! I could feel the grin reach my cheekbones, being quite happy of my accomplishment.

Suddenly, Helga screamed and for some reason it surprised me that she could actually let out a scream of fear and a rather womanly one at that. I had taken care of the robots and I turned to look over at Helga, who was on her back and four robots were now surrounding her and aiming their weapons at her. Without much thought, I charged towards the robots and jumped higher than ever, holding my wrench with both hands. I raised the wrench above my head and swung it down as the gravity began to do the same to me. The impact was enough to knock the robot down and now the other three had their attention on me instead of Helga. My eyes grew wide as the began to charge their guns, but Helga quickly got on her feet and punched two of the closest robots away from me. With only one left, the robot seemed confused of who it should attack, so I took the chance and threw the wrench at his head, which came clean off and flew far off. Not only that, my wrench soon returned to my grasp like a boomerang; a trick I had practiced so much, but it was the first time it worked out perfectly.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding and I fell down on my bottom to the ground. I blinked at the destroyed robots and then at Helga, who was also out of breath (how or why, it was beyond my understanding) and looking back at me. She gave me a wide grin while looking quite angry, so I had no idea if the expression was good or not. "Well." She said, letting out a low laugh. "You certainly surprised me. Maybe you do have a backbone! That was still poor performance, though!" She snarled to which I only laughed as lookd down and closed my eyes. I could feel her anger rising again and she began to nag about me being insulting or something, but I really didn't care. I fought robots and saved her life; it was more than satisfying to know that she had needed my help in a battle.

"Ratchet!" I heard Clank cry out and I instantly opened my eyes, looking out for where he actually was. I saw him running towards the ship and I stood up with a wide smile, holding on to the wrench tightly.

"Clank, you're back!" I cheered and as he reached the ship, he slowed down and stopped right in front of me.

"Are you alright?" Clank asked in what seemed to be panic and he looked around, watching the destroyed robots around the ship's entrance. "The robots...!"

"Me and Helga took care of them!" I responded proudly, pointing myself with the thumb of my free hand. Clank turned to me, surprised, then turning to Helga who now had her arms crossed. She only let out a grunt, looking away in disapprovement and Clank looked back at me, giving me a gentle smile.

"Well, I told you, did I not?" He asked, walking closer to me and placing his hand on my head, ruffling my fur with a chuckle. "You are a brave child." He pulled his hand away and I grinned at him playfully, actually quite happy of the words he had given me.

Captain Qwark then reached the ship as well, breathing so heavy that it almost looked like he was going to die. I found strange amusement in it, but didn't dare to show it. "Clank! Man! How are you able to run so fast!" Qwark breathed between the words, making my ears twitch. The man looked around and grinned in satisfaction, straightening his back and placing his fists on his hips, still trying to catch his breath. "Well! The arrival of the great Captain Qwark has disabled the enemy! You better be afraid, you vile machines!" He cheered with his usual egoistic manner and headed for the entrance, kicking the robots out of the way and Helga helped her, watching the man admiringly like she usually did.

I watched as Clank began to head for the entrance, but stopped not too far from me, his back facing my direction. He lowered his hand and spoke so quietly that I almost didn't hear his words. "Honestly though... I was really worried about you..." He simply said and walked towards the ship. I smiled softly and dahsed after him, keeping a fair distance bewteen us as we entered the ship. He headed for the cockpit and I stayed behind to watch Qwark and Helga clean the entrance of the robots, and when they finally did, the closed the door and I ran after Clank, grinning happily.

Beside the robot invasion, though, I can say that it had been a rather nice day.


	11. Chapter 11

It took me a while before I came into my senses and stood up from my place, Helga beginning to scold me again for being a huge coward. I let out a displeased grunt for I wasn't that that happy about it either, but I only had my brains, not my brawn, the opposite of her. I saw Qwark close the ships door and head for the cockpit with Helga and I followed them right after. Clank was waiting for us in the room and once we all took our seats, he let an infobot out of his hatch and it opened up its screen, displaying the video it had recorded.

A broadcast came on screen, recorded at the Blarg Tactical Research Station in Nebula G34. It showed Drek explaining about the BTS (why he left the R is beyond me) and the different tests they were performing there. He even said something about building our own futures while we test their weapons. All in all, the broadcast wasn't very informative.

"So, what do we do now that we're finished watching commercials?" I asked with a snarky tone in my voice. It always came naturally from me, I couldn't really help it.

"I was certainly hoping to receive more information from this..." Clank said with slight disappointment, while Ratchet watched him in confusion, looking like he wasn't sure what the problem was.

"Can't we just go to that place and ask the workers there?" The kid asked in a naive manner, receiving a stare from Clank that I hadn't seen before. It was hard to explain, but he was unsure, doubtful and obviously thinking the same as I; what a naive question. But there was more to that expression that not many others got to see; he was obviously reconsidering it, which just blew my mind. Usually he wasn't too happy with what others suggested, but this kid was actually making suggestions the robot agreed to? How does he even do that?

"No way." I said sharply, the kid turning his attention to me. "The place is way too dangerous. There's loads of asteroids there! Our ship could get damaged! What are the chances the employees even know where Drek possibly is now?!" I nearly snapped as I really didn't want to be killed by giant space rocks smashing into the ship.

"I agree. The employees do not necessarily know of Drek's whereabouts." Clank said in agreement, to which I replied with a quick 'thank you', but as he always did, Clank spoke out what he really was thinking. "But it is the only lead we have got as of now. I believe we should at least ask these people what they know. We would be losing less chances than we would be by just sitting here doing nothing." The small robot explained and once again, his logic was defeating any other reasoning the rest of us had.

"Good idea!" Captain Qwark suddenly chirped as he stood up from his seat, all of us watching his grinning face with a questioning stare. Well, except for Helga, who was just admiring his looks and so called charm.

"I beg your pardon?" I asked from Qwark, who turned to Clank.

"We should definitely go check on that research place what it was and ask about Drek!" Qwark was agreeing awfully lot with Clank, making both him and I blink in wonder. "There is only one problem!" And there it was; an explanation why the mission couldn't proceed. "There's so many asteroids and this ship is so big! How can we possibly dodge them!" The captain threw his arms in the air in fake shock, but to be fair, his reasoning wasn't too far fetched this time.

"There is plenty of room to move with a ship with the size such as ours." Clank argued back, but Qwark kept doing the same.

"Perhaps so, but is it really safe? We may be able to dodge, but what if someone goes wrong? Our ship isn't fast and the asteroids are so close and so big! We would need a smaller, faster ship to reach the place!" Qwark placed his hands on his hips with a grin and Clank placed his hand on his face as he shook it from side to side, clearly knowing what the captain was proposing. We all knew.

"So, what you are suggesting..." Clank began as he dropped his hand from his face and watched Qwark with a very displeased expression. "...is that I take the Speedrunner and go there all by myself?" Clank asked, but Qwark only answered with a wider grin. He didn't need to say anything further. Clank could only sigh and head for the entrance of the cockpit. "How delightful." He commented as he walked out of the room, Ratchet following right behind him.

I decided to follow the two as well and they had walked to the small "garage" we had inside the ship where we kept our Speedrunner, a rather small jet that could fly really fast and was mostly used by Clank since he fit into it the best. It was more Clank's ship than anyone else's. Usually Clank would use the ship when he had to go on planets and help people, while the rest of us stayed behind or went somewhere else. For some reason, he liked to work alone more than with us.

Ratchet watched Clank with deep curiosity as Clank checked out the ship, probably making sure it was ready to fly at any time. He climbed into the cockpit of the ship, pressing some buttons as he completely ignored my presence. "You gave up pretty soon." I simply said, but Clank didn't react much to it.

"I have learned to give up in Captain Qwark's case. He will find reasons until the end of the world so I might as well just let it be and go. The mission will end quicker that way." The small robot explained as he was clearly annoyed. Qwark was really good at coming up with different reasons why he shouldn't join any dangerous missions and just stay behind (and take the credit along the way). I wasn't very good with the physical stuff and while Clank wasn't that strong himself, he was surprisingly agile and capable of getting things done with a mere blaster. He was very brave, unlike me.

"Can I go?" The young lombax suddenly asked and Clank gave a look of concern at him. That's another expression he didn't show often.

"Definitely not. It's not safe there." Clank refused and Ratchet was obviously disappointed, but he definitely wasn't going to give up on the matter.

"But I wanna help! I promise I won't get in the way!" He pleaded and for whatever reason, I really felt like backing him up.

"He's a pretty good fighter too." I said, both of them watching me with a questioning stare, especially Clank. "You should have seen him move! He took care of those robots like it was nothing!" I explained with slight excitement, making Clank more than surprised. "And, well..." Realizing how out of character I must have sound, I coughed into my fist and straightened my tone. "You wouldn't have to work alone. The kid could learn some new tricks there."

Clank stared at me in silence for awhile and then looked at Ratchet, who was staring at his "step-father" with big, pleasing puppy eyes. So this is what it looked like. Again, Clank looked at me, clearly not sure why I wanted Ratchet to go with him. "Do you want him to be put into danger?" He asked a bit angrily. I shook my head.

"That's not it. I just feel he's in less of a danger with you than he is on the ship with us..." Thinking back on when Ratchet had ran off and when the robots had attacked, Clank taking the kid with him would allow him to keep a close eye on him at all times and make him less angry at us for not properly protecting him. Of course, I didn't want the kid to be hurt, but he was obviously not suited for staying in one place for long; he needed action.

"I am not quite sure of it..." Clank said quite unsure, but Ratchet smiled cheerfully and jumped in to the cockpit and sat down next to the robot.

"Too bad! I'm coming with you!" Ratchet grinned as his tail wagged from side to side and Clank let out a heavy sigh. Although his gestures implied him being frustrated or annoyed of the situation, he was clearly happy of the company. It was rather odd seeing him truly happy for once, but in a way, it made me happy as well.

"Fine then." Clank gave in, giving a serious look at me as he held on to the controls. "We may as well be on our way. We have to get there as soon as possible and waiting around any longer can cause a lot of trouble." He explained, turning to Ratchet and telling him to buckle up the seat belt while he did the same.

"Sure thing. I will open up the door." I smiled as I walked out of the room and closed the door. There was a small but strong window on the wall next to the door, so one could see when the pilot was ready to depart. Clank shut down the window door and signed with his hand that he was ready to leave. I signed back and looked down on the control panel of different coloured buttons and pressed a couple of them to make the door behind the ship open. Clank started the ship and began to fly away, Ratchet looking overly excited about it.

Soon, they were gone and I closed the door, letting out a sigh as I did so. For some reason, I didn't feel too comfortable at the situation. I never did around danger, but this time, I felt like something was going to go horribly wrong.


	12. Chapter 12

It was a rather lovely evening in the Solana Galaxy as I was watching my workers from the screens in my ship's control room. There was a huge window to see where we were actually going, of course, but surrounding it were many screens where I could keep an eye on my subjects and punish them if they were to slack off. No such thing should ever be allowed.

I stood near the large window, watching the space with a smile. Everything had been going so well so far that it was almost painfully easy. I almost wished for a challenge.

"Eh, sir?" One of my minions spoke from the entrance of the room, making me groan out loud. I wasn't too happy with people disturbing my thoughts for the greater future.

"What. Is it?" Not turning around to look at my minion, and not really caring to, I kept staring into the space; into my... Project.

"We have some... Good news and... Bad news..." My minion mumbled in shame and fear, which he deserved to have. Bad news were never good and it was always the fault of my minions. They always messed things up. Had it been possible, I would have done everything myself.

"And they are?" I asked, tapping my hand with my fingers as I kept my arms behind my back.

"Well, you see..." My minion let out a fearful stutter, but hearing my low growl, he began to speak up properly. "Good news is, the work in planet Eudora is going smoothly! Your shipment will be received in no time!"

"And the bad news?" My question made the minion stutter again as he hesitated to answer my question.

"Our work in planet Novalis... Has suffered a little." This time, I turned around quick and threw my fists back as I snarled at my minion angrily.

"What?!" My anger began to build up. It didn't need much to go overboard.

"The president is onto us and has dispatched an army against us! He has also gotten a group to track us and defeat us." The minion spoke as he backed away a bit, waving his hands in front of him as if trying to prevent me from brutally murdering him right here and now. Not that I would do it, no. It would be too messy, so I would just call another minion to do it for me. Had it not been for the next line, I would have definitely done it. "Their leader is Captain Qwark."

My anger decreased rather quickly as I snorted at the name; Captain Qwark. I knew that man. The whole galaxy knew that man. He was a super hero, who could do anything for anyone. He was the one people called upon when they were in trouble. The thought of that made me chuckle in my place. I knew clear as day that that man was an idiot. He could do nothing on his own and there wasn't much he could do to stop me. Even if he did have a group, it didn't mean they could do much more. No-one would volunteer to follow an idiot like him unless they were idiots themself.

"Sir?" My minion carefully asked in confusion as I kept chuckling to myself. I turned around again to my previous position, hands behind my back and my gaze on my project.

"Prepare to send an invitation. I have a plan." I simply said and my minion automatically agreed.

"Right away, sir." He said and left the room, going to get the needed items for my invitation. Well, mostly an infobot, really.

I smiled to myself as I glanced on the monitors and watched my minions work, feeling rather good about the situation. The president was sending an army after me? Oh, please, that was just the cutest thing to do! With an idiot like Qwark leading them on, winning this battle was a piece of cake! I would just have to tell a lie or two and that moron would be finally battling for the right team and millions of people would lose hope in one day.

Sometimes I could squeal at my own, evil and brilliant plans.


	13. Chapter 13

It didn't take us long to reach the Blarg Tactical Research Station on our faithful Speedrunner as it was a lot faster than our main ship and there weren't many distractions. I had flown this ship for many times as it was usually I that had to help people, only for Qwark to take the credit in the end. Helga never did much either, other than nag everyone to stay fit. Al never went on the missions, but he took care of our main ship, doing most of the flying and navigating. He and I would mostly fix anything that seemed to be wrong with the ship, the "Qwark Junior", as well as with Speedrunner. Gladly, Al was the one that named this one and not Qwark.

I flew around the station and searched for a place to land while avoiding the meteorites. It wasn't a difficult task since I had done it so many times. Flying a ship still wasn't my thing, but what could one do. While my concentration was unbreakable in situations like this, I couldn't help but glance over to Ratchet as he looked around the space in total awe. Had the seatbelt not been holding him down, I could swear he'd jump out of the ship to take a closer look. His curiosity was immense.

Ratchet's concentration was completely elsewhere when I turned mine back to where I was flying and finally, I was able to locate a spot for us to land. It had been more obvious than I had first thought; the entrance was on the roof of one part of the station and as I got closer to it, it opened up and I was able to land the ship inside the station. Once Speedrunner reacher the floor, the entrance closed down and it was safe for us to depart. At least so it seemed for the moment.

I opened the hatch and my seatbelt, turning then to glance at Ratchet's seat, but it was already empty. I could feel slight panic build up in my systems, but once I jumped off the ship, I spotted the young lombax explore around the station room. The curiosity of this child would be the end of me. "Ratchet." I called out to him and he stopped in his tracks, watching me in wonder. "Do not wonder off like that. There is no telling what dangers wait ahead of us. I only wish for your safety." The way I spoke always seemed to get a grin out of the lombax, which certainly confused me, but he nodded in agreement.

"Sorry. I've just never seen anything like this! It's awesome!" He cheered as his eyes scanned the room in pure excitement. It wasn't something I understood that well, but I was certainly happy that he was having fun.

"Either way, we have to move on and find out the location of Drek. I do not think the workers know where he is, really, but it is the only lead we have got so far." I explained and while it seemed that the young lombax wasn't paying attention in the least, I kept on talking, trying to see if that was true. "It may be dangerous and I want you to realize that. Do not do anything foolish and if something really bad comes along, you run." The last words made Ratchet let out a faint grunt as he rolled his eyes. What was I thinking, letting him come with me...

"Don't worry! I won't be in the way, I just wanna help!" He grinned widely as he began to head for an entrance to a hallway, not showing much fear. He may have gotten just a little bit cocky after he defeated a few of those robots before.

I followed the lombax, making sure he was close to me at all times. The hallway seemed quiet enough, but I kept myself alerted and when I turned to look at Ratchet, I noticed that he was actually being careful as well. At some point, he had taken a tight hold of the wrench he always kept with him and kept looking around in paranoia, much like myself. His eyes met with mine and he smiled nervously; it was obivous he tried hard to act brave, but in truth, he was afraid.

He then stopped, looked up with a surprised expression. I stopped next to him and gave him a questioning stare. "What is it?"

"Do you hear that? That weird scratching sound? And that... Odd, squishy sound?" He asked me as his ears twitched and I stood quiet, trying to detect the sound as well. I could definitely hear it.

"Yes. We must be careful. Who knows what it i-" Before I could end my sentence, a few lids on the ceiling slammed open and greenish yellow coloured creatures with four legs and red eyes fell down. The spikes on their backs and razor sharp teeth were all too familiar to me and I instantly regocnized them; alien swarmers. These creatures once invaded our ship on a small mission and we had a lot of trouble with them, since I seemed to be the only one willing to fight them off, along with Helga of course. They weren't awfully strong, but their teeth were frightening, especially if you weren't a robot.

My blaster was quick as was my reaction time with the creatures and I kept looking out for Ratchet, who seemed to try his best dodging the bites. I did my best shooting down the ones that came close to him, ignoring the ones that were jumping towards me. "Watch out!" Ratchet shouted and swung his wrench at the creatues that were charging towards me from behind. The wrench took very good care of the nasty creatures and it returned to its owner like a boomerang. Had there not been more monsters, I would have stared at the child in awe; he kept surprising me over and over again.

Soon, we finally finished off the last creature and my blaster's tip was steaming from all the bulletshots. Ratchet was quite winded and he placed his hands on his knees, while still holding on to the wrench, trying to catch on to a steady breath. Making sure no more creatures would come and attack us, I looked around carefully and walked over to the young lombax. He straightened his back and took a deep breath, wiping his forehead with his gloved hand as he kept holding on to the wrench. I swear, that tool is glued to the poor child's palm.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, receiving a goofy smile from him.

"Of course. That was some good exercise." Ratchet let out a slightly winded laugh and I couldn't help but smile. It would be troublesome if I couldn't protect him better, if things got worse (especially when he was the one who saved me from trouble).

"There must be worse things out there. We'll have to be careful. Even if we are both skilled with combat, we should avoid that at all costs." I explained and a sarcastic grin grew on Ratchet's lips.

"Like before?" He snickered lightly, to which I coughed in response.

"No. Not like before." I chuckled faintly and carefully headed forward, trying to be much more careful than before. Ratchet followed me right behind, his steps a lot more quiet than my own, after all, his feet were much softer. Our path lead towards a rather big room that looked like an experiment room or a caging area of some sort. I could hear grunts and growls and assumed there were more creatures here, either the same ones we fought or some new ones. This definitely didn't look too appealing. "Alright, Ratchet." I wishpered, looking over to Ratchet who was grouching behind me, looking like he was really concentrating on what we were doing. "There might be some trouble ahead. Stay down and stay quiet. We do not need any unnecessary attention."

"Well, if you'd give me a weapon, it wouldn't be a problem..." Ratchet said as his voice trailed off into a mumble.

"Ratchet..." I sighed, fully turning to face him. "You certainly know your way with the wrench, but I do not think you are quite... Stable with a weapon." My comment didn't make the young lombax too happy and his mouth formed a light pout.

"So it's better I fight in close combat than from a long range?" He asked a little bitterly. I have no idea where this sudden bitterness of his came from, but it certainly wasn't making this mission easier.

"No. It is better if you stay somewhere safe, away from combat. The fight before was inevitable and I am proud of you, but you are still a child." Every sentence I made seemed to make Ratchet angier and angrier and I was starting to get worried he would start making a ruckus because of it.

"I've shot a gun before." He said in a surprisngly quiet voice. "Trust me a bit."

I let out a deep sigh as I opened my hatchet, taking out another blaster like my own. I closed the hatchet and watched the lombax, who just watched the gun curiously. "Alright. I will give you this blaster, because I do trust you, but just to let you know-"

"Uh, Clank...?" Ratchet's eyes grew wide as he looked somewhere above me and I could see a shadow cast over me. I turned around and saw another creature inhabiting this space station; an alien snapper.

This was rather bad.


	14. Chapter 14

"Uh, captain... Something about this doesn't feel right." Al whined as he stared at his monitor with not much concentration. He wasn't looking very happy about something, but to be honest, I didn't like to think about upsetting things. It's bad for karma and, well... Just my general positiveness. I like to keep my grin to a maximum and increase my ever-fading charm.

"Oh, don't worry about nothing! Everything's fine! Those two are taking care of the research station while we chill back and just relax." I explained to the rather bloated companion of mine. He was smart, but not so much a looker, unlike Helga was. Thinking of her, I glanced over to her with a grin and she let out a masculine giggle, waving her fingers to me with a flirty look on her face. This was the life.

"No, sir, it's just-" Al continued, but I raised my hand to stop him. I knew he was looking at me even if I wasn't looking at him. People were always admiring my looks.

"Save it! We don't need this negative energy to linger in our ship! She's delicate to those things!" With a deep breath, I leaned against my chair and breathed out in pleasure.

"Oh, good grief..." Al cursed under his breath as he turned back to his monitor. A long while passed without any of us saying a word and a sudden beep broke the perfect silence we had. Well, obviously it wasn't that perfect. The only thing the silence was missing, was my own delightful voice! "Oh, wha..." Al mumbled in confusion as he watched his screen, typing something as he shook his head. He was making me curious.

"Well, what is it, my faithful companion? Did the newspapers contact me, wanting my interview of my awesomeness?" I grinned, hopefully, but that didn't decrease even when Al shook his head.

"No, it's uh..." He slowly turned around, not looking too sure about what he just witnessed. "Chairman Drek is sending a meeting invitation for you."

This certainly was interesting. "Oh, really?" I rubbed my handsome chin as I thought about the matter. Chairman Drek sent an invitation to a meeting? Wow, he must have heard of me and getting scared of my involvement! That must be it! I must talk to him and scare him even more, so he'll never try anything bad again! Yes, I AM a genius! "Accept it!"

"What?!" Al snapped, jumping off his seat and standing beside with an angry look on his face. "You're kidding, right? What would you possibly be thinking of accomplishing by meeting him?"

"World peace, my friend." I grinned and Al grunted to himself as he watched me with his mouth wide open. "I know, it's brilliant, isn't it? I have the perfect plan, too! And we don't have to do a thing! Everything will be just fine!" I cheered as I clapped my hands together twice and Al let out a deep sigh as he sat back down on his seat.

"Why do I even bother..." He mumbled, but I was too occupied with my plan to care for his words. It was going to be great!

"No worries! I will take care of this all! Now, if you don't mind, I will go prepare for this spectacular event!" I declared as I stood up and headed for the door. The door opened on it's own, making way for my glory and I headed for my room. Once I entered, I was greeted by the smiling pictures of myself from different interviews and magazine covers. The sight was always delightful.

I sat down with a sigh as my grin faded and turned into a simple smile. My gaze dropped on the ground as I leaned my arms against my legs and I looked at the pictures once more. "Mommy... Daddy..." I whispered to myself. "Wherever you are... I will show you... Little Qwark can save the world." I clenched my fists as determination began to rise up my spine to my head. "I will be a real super hero."

Now grinning again, I placed my right hand on my handsome chest. "I, Copernicus Leslie Qwark, am the best super hero there ever was. You'll see." And they most definitely will after the meeting. Everyone will.


	15. Chapter 15

To be a little honest, the way things turned out surprised me a little bit. I knew Captain Qwark was a moron, but I honestly didn't think he'd accept my invitation like that. His subjects didn't even seem to care much or try to stop him. Then again, the power of his words were much bigger than I might give him credit for. Otherwise, I wouldn't have contacted him.

I sneered at the sight of space from my office window as I sat on my chair that was a little too big for someone my size, but it was comfy as hell. The back of the chair was facing towards my desk and the door, which always added a nice touch of drama when someone entered the room. If only I had a cat, how stereotypical would I be? But no, I was nothing like that. If I had a cat, I would just kill it to show people below me that you do not mess with Chairman Drek. Ever.

"Sir." I heard a voice from the doorway, but I didn't turn around. The timing wasn't right. "The captain's ship just arrived. He got on the ship and is now on the way here."

"Good." I replied simply and the henchman left the room, leaving me to stare at space some more before Qwark would arrive. I couldn't help but just smile to myself as my plan rolled in my head in vicious cycles. It would definitely be interesting to see how the world of that moronic "super hero" would crumble if he became useless.

"Good day, Drek, my pal!" A cheerful greeting came from the entrance and I gritted my teeth, not really keen on hearing such a joyful cry. I swallowed down my despise and put on the kindest smile I could possibly pull up and I turned around with the chair, spreading my arms as a welcome.

"Captain Qwark! What an honour it is meeting you!" The compliment hurt me from the inside, but it seemed to work on the idiot more than I imagined. This was going to be painfully easy.

"Oh, I bet you now!" He pointed at me with his fingers like his hands were a pair of guns and I let out a little snort.

"Well, how would you like getting straight into business, hmm?" I asked and he took a seat on the other side of the desk, sitting on it like he had no care in the world, on his side, one leg over the other. He leaned against the chair, his free hand still doing the stupid gun motion.

"Certainly! Wouldn't want to keep business waiting!" He laughed rather boldly, grinning even wider than in the photos I've seen of him before. Oh lord, hold yourself together, Drek. Soon you'll be controlling this fool.

"The matter is... I have heard you and your people have been on a mission to... Well, take care of me and my people." I spoke calmly and Qwark leaned closer to the table, having a face that looked like he got me.

"The president is a little worried over the little... Constructions you have been making. It's not too healthy for the planets." The idiot said to which I had to resort with a slightly sad look, to give a little impact on my following story.

"Oh... I am terribly sorry. It's just... My homeplanet is so toxicated that we can not inhabitat the place anymore. Our people have... Certain needs and building a new planet is the only solution." I explained and Qwark fell into deep thought. Or, well, as deep as you could get in such a small head.

"But it's killing those on the planets where you take your planet parts and what not." Qwark gave me a raised eyebrow (at least I was assuming he had some under the mask), not following my sad story.

"Well... We all sometimes suffer some minor casualties." I turned the chair a little, so my side was now facing Qwark. I tapped my fingertips against each other as I looked down, trying to act a little sad. "Our whole race will disappear, if we can't create a solution for our problem."

"That certainly is bad." Qwark rubbed his chin in thought and I sneered in my mind. Gotcha.

"I was looking for a spokesperson to speak for our people and our new planet. Someone who people love and admire. Someone who understands. Someone... Compassionate." I snorted at the irony of the sentence. "I'm not necessarily trying to destroy the planets per se. I just need to lend some parts to create an ideal planet for my people. They have suffered SO much, captain." I gave him a glance that had slight sadness or so I truly tried. The fool was buying it. "You understand, don't you-" I gave him a smile. "-my future spokesperson?"

"You want me to be a spokesperson for your planet?" Qwark let out a laugh and he leaned back on his seat. "Well, it's only a given. I AM that great after all!" He praised himself, but still gave me a look of slight doubt. "But something doesn't feel right... You snatching off pieces of planets."

"Oh, we can always replace them once the time comes." I said as I turned with my chair again. It was a complete lie, but I was damn good at that. "This is life support, captain. Sometimes you have to donate for the people that have less than others." I was starting to get a little frustrated as I placed my hands on the table, leaning against them as I watched Qwark with a bit angry look. "Look, I can make you more famous than anyone else in this galaxy. I can make you rich as hell." I smirked as I leaned back into my chair, crossing my legs and my fingers, placing my hands on top of my knees. "All you have to do is to do what I say. Nothing more."

Qwark crossed his arms and frowned, watching the floor in silence (which in itself was a miracle) and after a moment, he stood up straight, taking a deep breath and raising his chin. He raised his finger at me, giving me a frustrated look. "I will think about it."

"There is nothing to think about, Qwark." I replied, sneering at his helpless figure. "You want to be a real super hero?" The question got his full attention and I continued. "I can make you anything you want."

For a second or two, Qwark looked away with a faint grin before he turned to me for another two seconds. "I'll be in touch." He turned away and headed for the door. I watched him go with a grin of my own.

"I know you will."


	16. Chapter 16

"Clank! RUN!" I screamed, but not only was my warning unnecessary, it was also way too late. The monster got its teeth around Clank, beginning to shake him from side to side, probably trying to rip him apart. Even though I told Clank I had fired a gun before, it wasn't entirely true. It was only once and even that was an accident. Even though I wasn't that bad with my aim before, this monster was a lot bigger and a lot closer than the one I had shot before.

"Ratchet! Go hide! Now!" Clank yelled as he was being shaken around, but I couldn't do that and leave him behind! He was in trouble! I aimed the blaster at the monster, my hands shaking more than I wanted to. "No! Ratchet!" Clank snapped at me as I shook in my place and my aim went back a forth from Clank to the monster. He was moving way too fast!

"S-Stop you ugly creature!" I yelled at the monster, as if expecting something to happen. And surprisingly, something did happen. The monster calmed down, watching me as Clank still held his place between the monster's teeth. It watched me with such mean looking eyes while drool dripped down Clank's body. This was just disgusting. "Let 'im go! O-Or I'll shoot!" I threatened the creature and it just seemed to snicker at me and my words. It got closer and my feet turned into jelly, making me fall down on my butt and watch the monster drool over me. "H-Hi...?" I grinned in fear, my fingers tightening their grip around the gun.

"Ratchet!" Clank yelled for me, but I just kept shaking and staring at the monster. Not paying attention, my fingers slipped on the trigger and I shot up to the monster's mouth, also partly hitting Clank in the process. He let out a gasp as he was hit and the monster began throwing a hissy fit and dropped him down on the ground. Clank was quick to get on his feet, but I was still in a frozen state. "Ratchet, snap out of it!" He yelled for me, trying to get closer to me, but the monster hit him with his head and turned to me again, his sharp teeth getting closer to me. Something in me snapped as well and as the monsters mouth was in my reach, I shoved the gun in its mouth and shot into it a couple of times, making the monster scream between the shots, but each time it got more quiet and hopeless. Even when life seemed to escape from the creature, I still kept on shooting, my eyes wide as the sense of reality seemed so dim.

Suddenly a harsh slap came down on my cheek and I let go of the blaster. It dropped on the ground as did the creature's limb body. I gritted my teeth, trying to keep in whatever screams I wanted to let out and looked at Clank, who now stood beside me, his hand in a position that implied him slapping me before. "Ratchet! I told you to run! What on earth were you thinking!" He yelled and I bit my lip, looking at the monster in silence as I couldn't think of anything smart to say. Or even anything stupid to say. "You could have been killed! You could have been eaten! Why do you not listen to me!" Clank kept on nagging, but I couldn't answer. He was angry with me and it was upsetting, but even more so... He was right. I could have been killed. Realizing that certainly felt heavy at the moment. "Ratchet..." Clank spoke out almost desperately when he noticed I wasn't responding. He even stepped in front of me and placed his hands on my shoulders, shaking me to get my attention. "Ratchet, do you understand what I'm saying?"

Before I could reply, more growls were heard in the distance, probably meaning more of those monsters. Clank began to panic as he took the blaster he gave me and put it inside his hatch. He then grabbed my arm and wrapped it around his neck, then wrapping his around my waist and helping me to walk away from the now dead monster. He walked me into one of the empty cages and let me sit down on the floor again while he went on a lookout. I silently watched, not really sure what I should do or say. My legs still felt like jelly and my mind felt like in a blur. I had never been that scared before in my life, even though I have been in danger before, but somehow this time was a lot different. For some reason, this time I was scared enough to have my legs not working.

"Ratchet." Clank called out for me and I snapped out of my thoughts, but I still couldn't reply. I could only look at him dumbfounded. "There are two more of those creatures out there. They found the body and they are now on the lookout for us. We have to sneak away from them without being noticed. Do you think you can do that?" His voice was much more gentle this time, which certainly calmed me down a bit. I was really afraid I'd lose him.

Then it hit me. "Ratchet, are you alright?" That's what was different! "You have not said a word in a while." I am so stupid...! "Ratchet...? Are you crying?"

"I'm so sorry!" I whimpered as I jumped up and hugged him tightly, but I tried keeping my voice down so we wouldn't be found. But it was hard to contain my tears and this feeling of fright, so I probably wasn't doing a good job. "I didn't want to disobey! I just really didn't want to lose you! I got so scared and my legs turned into jelly and then I just shot at the creature and I lost it and-!"

"Ratchet, calm down." Clank said quietly. I stopped talking, but I still kept on sobbing as quietly as I could. "I understand. I really do." He hugged me back and rubbed my back, which was really comforting to me. I shed tears less and less every second. "I do not wish to lose you either. That is why I want you to do as I tell you. It is only for your safety. And for that, I can not give you a gun anymore."

"Oh no!" I pulled away from the robot and lowered my ears in panic. I remember hitting him with the blaster now. Oh, shit...! "I shot you! I-I didn't mean to! I mean, my hands were shaking and I-"

"Ratchet, calm down!" Clank raised his voice a bit again and placed his hands on top of my mouth, kneeling down with me as he looked over to the entrance, watching the creatures walk around in the room, searching for us. They were listening carefully, probably having heard some of my previous angst. It seems I'm constantly getting us into deep trouble.

Clank turned his attention to me and at this point, and moved his hand away from my mouth. "Look... You have to understand that this is no playground. We have to be careful with these creatures. There is no telling what the workers will be like. If I tell you to run, you run. Understand?" I had no idea if he was angry or worried by the tone of his voice. He was probably both but I didn't dare to question him or his plan, so I simply nodded as did he.

Clank stood up and quietly walked to the exit of the cage, watching the creatures closely. Quietly standing up, I kept my eyes sharp and watched him as well as the creatures as I sneaked closer to him while placing my wrench on my back, so it wouldn't be in the way that much. The creatures looked around and decided to head to the way we had come from before. Once they were mostly out of sight, Clank motioned me to follow him and began sneaking away to the closest hallway. I followed him close and only now I could notice the dark mark my blaster had left on his metallic body. It was mostly on his right side but some of it had gotten on the back. It was amazing how bad I could feel about it; Clank was alright and moving like normal, but had he been organic like me... I can't imagine the pain he could have had.

We got through the room and made it to the hallway, both of us making sure that the creatures weren't after us and once we made sure of that, we began running forward as fast as we could. I gave glances over my shoulder every now and then to make sure that no-one was following us and as that wasn't the case, my steps shortened and became slower. Clank did the same as he noticed me falling behind and while I was breathing heavily, he had no issue with such thing. Those lucky robots.

"We seem to be safe now. More or less." Clank said as he looked around, waiting for me to catch my breath before attempting to continue. "It is weird, though. There has not been any workers in sight and these organic creatures are just running about freely. There is something wrong here. On a level that is unbelievable."

Once I caught up with my breath, I walked to Clank's direction and then went past him just a little. He then took a short dash after me and walked beside me as we looked around. "Maybe they're traps? To keep outsiders away?"

"That is a possibility. It just means that Drek was expecting someone to come after him." Clank's voice was serious and concerned, which was in no way a surprise. The situation stunk like a skunk in a dirty sewer.

We got to another room with more traps, this time with electrical fences that we had to get by somehow. There were strange charged objects far in to the walls that we couldn't reach, but I got an idea and threw my wrench at them, destroying them and making the electrical fences disappear. I was rather proud of myself and I imagine Clank would be too, but he gave me a rather cold "good job" and continued his way. My ears flattened, but I tried to be braver and not show him my disappointment. After all, I was causing more trouble than actually helping him in this mission. Even worse, I had insisted on coming with him even when he wasn't too happy about it. Now I understood why.

Once we made it through the traps and reached another doorway, we peeked inside carefully, both of us just staring into the room in worry. "This... Doesn't look too safe." I simply said, hoping to get some kind of reaction from Clank. "It's all... Green!"

"Hmm..." Clank stepped into the room, looking around carefully and stopping at the start of a short bridge, slightly turning to my direction. "It is not poisonous here. There is just a strong essence that might not be much to your liking." He explained and I almost didn't get it, but I followed him and grimaced at the smell of the room. It was really rotten and disgusting. "Now, there is another exit there." Clank looked over to the doorway and pointed at it. "We will rush our way there and hope that we finally meet at least one worker of this station." He kept on moving forward and I followed him right behind, watching him sadly. The way he kept speaking was so cold compared to how he was before and it really did make me quite sad to see him like that. Was he really that angry that I shot him or was it that I didn't obey? Or both? I did kind of save his life as well, even though it kind of backfired, literally.

The room was quite round and there was a round, empty floor that didn't reach to the walls. There was empty spaces between them, as if this place was meant for fighting or something. "I hear something." My ears twitched as I heard crawling and scratching somewhere. I couldn't detect where the sound came from, but it was probably behind the walls of this room.

"Do not worry about it. Just keep on moving." Clank said, not giving much concern to my warning this time. I sighed and decided to let it go, but once the door behind us shut close, as did the one we were heading for, he started to pay more attention as well. I then looked up, hearing some metal clash into each other and I could see a hatch open up. As soon as it did, another monster like before dropped down, but a lot bigger. It reached the ground and it started shaking for a moment, both me and Clank having a hard time staying on our feet. The monster growled loudly as it began running towards us. "RUN!" Clank yelled once again and this time I obeyed without a thought. I don't know if it was a good idea though to run into a different direction than him.

The monster could only follow one of us and it had decided to like Clank better than me. Clank dashed forward, turning around for a moment and shooting the monster, trying his best to weaken it. While he was doing that, I ran to the exit and tried looking for a way to open it. I couldn't see any switches or even small holes that we could possibly go through. The door was the only way to go and it was tightly sealed shut. I couldn't stop looking though and I kept on looking for any means of escape. I could hear the monster chasing Clank and they even passed me by, but I didn't pay it much attention. I wouldn't be much help anyway.

"Ratchet! Get away from there, now!" I heard Clank shout and when I turned around, I saw that the monster's attention had been forwarded to me. It was getting closer to me and I tried running past him, since there was no room running around, but its head moved so fast and his teeth got closer and closer. "NO!" Clank shouted and the only direction I could think of going, was back, so I wouldn't be missing a piece in a matter of seconds. Although my dodge saved my skin, the monster's teeth dug into my clothes and he pulled me up from the ground so fast that the breeze hurt my eyes a bit.

"Urgh!" I groaned when the monster stopped and my stomach smacked into its mouth a bit. I struggled in the grip, but the monster only growled in satisfaction as it lowered his head and I knew he was going to throw me upwards and keep his mouth open and have me land inside it. I had seen other meat-loving creatures do so in the past to smaller creatures. My reflexes acted fast and I reached over to my wrench, smacking it as hard as I could into the monster's eye that was pretty much as big as Clank and I were. The impact seemed to hurt and the creature opened its mouth and I fell on my back on the ground. It threw a tantrum filled with growls and hisses, stomping its small feet on the ground and luckily not hitting me in the progress. Clank ran behind me and put his arms under my arms, pulling me away from the monster as quickly as he could. I kicked my feet to get a feel of the ground and as I did, we both ran away from the monster while it was going mad.

After we gained some distance, I stopped and watched the monster as an idea hit me. There was a good chance to get rid of this thing with only a few blaster shots. "Ratchet what are you doing?! We have to get out of here!" Clank yelled as he came back for me and grabbed on to my arm, but I stood still, not allowing him to lead me away. "Do not tell me you are doing this again!"

"Wait." I looked at Clank hopefully and I was surprised to see so much worry in his eyes. I was sure he was angry again. "I have an idea."

"Ratchet..." Clank began to protest.

"I know you won't like this, but give me the blaster. Only this time, you're staying next to me, so you won't get shot!" I spoke fast as I noticed the monster was calming down from its tantrum and was now turning its head side to side to see where we were.

"Ratchet, that's not-"

"I know!" I snapped, placing my hand on his shoulder while giving him an angry stare in return. "The door won't open, there's no buttons or levers, so there's no way to escape! Give me the blaster again, we shoot that thing into its mouth when it reaches us and tries to eat us! We have to try or he'll end up eating us both! I can't run forever!" I explained as quickly as I could, but Clank being a smart robot, he understood it all. He groaned painfully, but gave me the blaster and not a second too soon; the monster had spotted us and was now charging towards us. We stood next to each other, aiming the blaster at it and once its mouth was reaching out for us wide open, we both started shooting into it.

The monster started screaming like the one I shot before, but this one was louder. It didn't take long for it to quiet down a bit and unlike the one before, this one actually pulled away while it was still alive. It shook and stomped like mad, obviously in deep pain. I dropped the blaster and took a tight grip of the wrench and took a proper position for aiming, and once the creature was in the right position as well, I threw the wrench as hard as I possibly could at this point and hit him in the head. Thankfully it had been weakened so much that the impact from my wrench was enough to knock it out, making the monster fall down to the ground loudly. It even made the floor shake again.

It took a while before either of did anything. The moment had been so hectic that it felt amazingly empty afterwards. At least for me. I walked over to the monster to retrieve my wrench as it hadn't returned back to me after I threw it. My throw was way off, but at least it did its job.

"Look." Clank suddenly said from behind me and I turned to look at him, then at the direction he was pointing at. The exit I had tried to open before was now open. How fantastic.

"So we had to kill the monster to open it." I growled, placing the wrench on my back again while watching the exit angrily. "A simple button would have done. Do you suppose this is how everyone has to go through?" I gave an annoyed glance at Clank, who had his fist on top of his mouth as he thought about the situation.

"I doubt it. This quite certainly was a trap to dispose of those that were not invited on this station." He explained and I sighed deeply at the words Clank used, but I decided to just let it go. He began heading for the exit and I silently followed him. My attention then dropped down on my clothes that were partly ripped from the bite marks. I lightly stroked some of the ripped parts, not really liking how it looked now, but it was probably smart not to say a word about it. I then stopped when I noticed Clank's feet and almost walked into him. He was standing at the doorway, watching me with a... I don't really even know what kind of emotions he was having right now. He was almost so blank, but that wasn't right either. "We'll get you a new one."

"Huh?" I blinked, tilting my head in confusion.

"An outfit. It must be rather uncomfortable with that one." He explained and I looked down at my clothes again and then back at Clank.

I swallowed, giving a light nod. "Yeah, it is kinda... Annoying..." I could then hear Clank chuckle and he reached his hand towards me, petting my head with a smile.

"Let us go." He said and walked out of the room, me running right after him. Sometimes I just couldn't understand what he was up to. But I couldn't help but smile at him, even if he didn't see it.

"Heeeeelp!" We heard someone yelp in a small room that was at the end of the short hallway we had entered. Once we got to the room, we stopped near the doorway and watched one of those little things try and get a bite out of this little guy shaking on a stand. The little creatures really didn't care for us; they just wanted to eat this guy. "You guys, help! I'm trapped here!"

"Are you a worker in this place?" I asked, slightly amused by the little creatures trying to jump up and have a go at the guy. After what we went through, I was kind of happy that others were having problems too.

"Yes! Now please!" He yelped again and as Clank was trying to go and get rid of the creatures, I stopped him with a slight grin.

"What's in it for us?" I asked calmly, to which Clank didn't agree to.

"Ratchet!" He gave a small glare at me, but I just smiled at him.

"Well, we were almost eaten out there a couple of times. I'm not going to let anyone else have it easy unless we get SOMETHING in return." I gave the worker a glare and he yelped again when one of the little aliens almost got a bite out of him.

"Fine, I'll help! I'll do anything! Just help me!" He whines and we did as he pleaded. It didn't take us long to take care of the little things, after all, there was only three of them. He then jumped down, taking a deep breath and wiping sweat off his forehead. "Whew! I really thought I was a goner! Some nano-wit in genetics must have left the cages open again!" He explained, making me growl quite unhappily.

"We noticed." My comment made the little guy (who was probably taller than us, but he was quite tiny compared to the last thing we saw) laugh nervously.

"So, you work for Drek, correct?" Clank asked and the guy nodded. "Do you know where he is?"

"Eh... Not really. He sometimes drops in to lecture us or to cut our payments. Most of the time he just goes around with his space ship, but he never stays still." He explained, me and Clank looking at each other in defeat. All this for nothing, huh? "Well, he was talking about Rilgar before. Who knows what he wants in there."

"Rilgar?" My ears shot up and I began grinning like a maniac. That was Skid's home planet! Maybe he was racing there now! "We definitely have to go there!" I cheered to Clank, who just watched me in confusion. His attention was then forwarded back to the worker as he needed to chat with him a little more.

"When did he mention this?" Clank asked and the guy scratched his head as he thought about it.

"Uh, I don't know. It might have been a while." I shrugged, looking over to another door (I was getting oddly tired of them) and then at us. "You have probably had as rough day as I have. I can take you back to the main room, if you want. I think I'm going to quit this darn job. I honestly can't take more of these aliens trying to eat me." He said almost desperately. Both of us nodded and we followed him into an elevator looking place and once he pushed random buttons, the small room started to move and not too long after that, we were at the room where we started, our ship still in one piece, thankfully.

"Thank you for the lift, sir." Clank smiled as he shook the guy's hand, who just laughed nervously again.

"Don't mention it." He said and quickly ran along his own way, wanting to get out of here more than us.

"Let us head back to the ship." Clank said and headed towards Speedrunner. I followed him and as he opened the hatch, we both jumped in and took our seats. He closed the hatch and began operating the ship, while I leaned back in my seat and yawned. I was really, really exhausted and...

I yawned again and closed my eyes. I just... Needed some... Rest...


	17. Chapter 17

Once I got into the cockpit of our ship, I could not help but let out a grunt. Whether it was a quiet one or a loud one, I failed to realize. Ratchet had not reacted to it in any way, so I could only assume. I closed down the hatch of the ship and pressed all the necessary buttons for take off. It seemed the ship was still in good shape, which was a little surprising. Having such deadly defenses on the station, it is a surprise that nothing happened to the ship.

I took a look at the navigator to find out where captain and the others were. To my surprise, they had moved far from the last spot for whatever reason. Things were looking a little strange.

"Ratchet, I will be starting the ship now." I said like I did not care for his opinion and I began starting up the ship. Once there was no reply, I looked over to his seat and blinked a few times at the sight. He had fallen asleep. The sight made me smile, but it also made me feel a little bad. I had given him such a hard time and he was still just a child. He was not up for challenges like this and I just let him come with me, almost even losing him plenty of times.

With a painful grunt, I turned back to the controls and started the ship. We really needed to get out of this station as fast as possible. The ship took off and we exited the station, Speedrunner taking off as fast as always. If nothing else, you could always count on that with this ship.

Dodging the meteorfield was challenging, but I had done that quite a few times, so it worked out more or less perfectly. Once the space was clear, I took another glance at the sleeping young lombax next to me. Who knows how old the boy really really was. To be honest, I had not thought of it until now for some reason. He did not look that old, but the way he acted sometimes was like he was an adult or near.

My attention turned again to flying the ship, but my thoughts still revolved around the boy and how I had acted towards him at the station. I looked down at my right side for a short moment and the black mark was there, where Ratchet had accidently shot me before. It was not like I lost anything and this was easily fixed, but I still got angry at him. He did not do what I said and could have done big damage on me.

_Really, are you blaming it on a child?_

Well...

_It is as you said, he IS just a child. How is he not going to be scared of monsters that try to eat him and the only thing that ever cared enough to take him in?_

That is correct... He is bound to be scared of creatures like that. He still should do as I say.

_Oh, yes, because loyalty conquers all, even fright! As if you have never been scared. You almost lost him a couple of times, can you not give him a break?_

I just do not wish him to be harmed... I can not afford to lose him like this...

_So, what, you are going to bully him like you did to make sure that he would not die? You know, this is quite sarcastic, but that does sound logical._

Oh, good grief...

_Look, he is alive and still beside you. Cut him a break. The world may be in trouble, but you need to let him know that he has nothing to worry about. He needs your approval, your praise, your love; and you must admit that he was pretty clever and skillful with the last monster, right?_

Yes... He was, was he not?

_He was. All that and he did not faint or throw up once. He followed you and obeyed you the best he could, given the situation. You should be proud._

I am proud. I really am.

I smiled to myself as the conversation ended in my own head. It was something I ended up doing when I had such mixed feelings about matters and it really did help most of the time. I really was being rough on Ratchet and once we got back to the others, I would have to make sure to tell him that he was doing good. He was doing more than children his age should or could. Not to mention would.

My attention was then turned to the radio which started to beep. I pressed the answer button quickly, so it would not wake the sleeping lombax. "This is Clank."

"Oh, good, you survived!" A slightly concerned voice of Al came through the speakers, making me chuckle. He never said it, but he was always so worried. "You have to come back as soon as possible!"

"Why, what is it?" Now I was growing worried. I just hope nothing happened to them or the ship.

"Qwark had a meeting with Drek! He got back some time ago, but he didn't tell us anything!" Al explained and I frowned, not liking the subject matter in the least.

"A meeting? Is he alright?" I could only ask.

"Yeah, he's fine. He just seemed to be... Deep in thought. The captain is thinking, Clank!" Al said as if that was the weirdest thing to come across in this galaxy. I was not doubting it.

"Did he really not say a word about it?" I asked to make sure. There was no way that Qwark would act as weird as this.

"Well, uh... He did say something about world peace and he was going to make it happen soon enough. Before he left, he said Drek feared him so much that he had no choice but to do as he says." Al explained, sounding quite confused, which was really not a surprise. The situation sounded very strange.

"I will be on my way." I reached for the end call -button, but before I could do that, Al sneaked in another question.

"How uh... Is the kid?" He tried to sound like he did not care, but I could detect some worry in his question. My tone changed from more formal to less formal, although it really was not my intetion.

"He is fine. We had some trouble, but we made it through in one piece. He is quite exhausted now; fell asleep once he got into the ship." I chuckled, taking a look at him again. His position was still the same and his breathing quiet and steady. I might have to carry him into the bed later.

"That's good. See you guys soon." Al replied and ended the call, as if trying to hide the fact that he, too, cared.

I sighed, even though I really didn't need to. It just felt like something I needed to do. Who knows what was waiting for us back at the ship and what Qwark explanation would be about the meeting. He might not have said much to Al or Helga, but I would get him to talk, one way or another.

If Drek was onto us and if Qwark would blabber about us, this would turn out even worse than it was in the station. I could only hope such thing would not happen. Even if Qwark was a little off sometimes and not entirely smart, even he would know not to put innocent lives in danger for the sake of his own well being.


	18. Chapter 18

Once we made back to our main ship, I opened my seat belt, then the hatch and got off. Al opened the door for me, but I quickly walked past him, and without a doubt, I must have looked quite angry. "Ratchet is in the ship. Please take him to my room. I have to go talk to someone."

"Sure..." Al responded and did as I said (I think anyway), while I walked over to Qwark's room and knocked on his door.

"Uh, sorry, I'm a bit busy!" He replied, but I did not believe him for a second. There was a panel on the door with numbers and since Qwark had locked the door, I had to put in a code to get in. He tried hiding the code, but he was not very good at such things.

I opened the door and just walked in, standing now next to the bed as the door closed down and Qwark just stood on the bed like a child. He held onto his knees, giving an extremely embarrassed look at me. "Well?" I asked him, making him frustrated.

"I told you I'm busy!" He whined, but I ignored that.

"What was the meeting about?" I asked sharply and Qwark let out a weak laugh, trying his best to form his usual goofy grin.

"Oh, you heard about it! It was nothing really, just something about world peace and planets and stuff..." He narrowly explained. I rubbed my forehead, letting out a loud groan.

"Qwark..." I began, not continuing from there for a short while. It was just so difficult with this man sometimes. "Why did you have a meeting with Chairman Drek? What did he say and why are you hiding? The way you are acting is really suspicious."

A heavy sigh escaped from Qwark as he slowly slid down from his bed and walked away from me to the other side of the room, taking a hold of his right hand with the other behind his back. "Drek is a powerful guy. He knows his way around things and he has his ways to manipulate others. He was offering me certain things so that we could get peace." Qwark explained in an oddly serious manner and before I could question this, he turned around with his usual big, cheerful smile. "But I didn't say yes! I know his dirty ways and I know what he's trying to do! I'm not that stupid!" He laughed, placing his fists on his hips.

"Captain..." I said, but he raised his index finger, silently telling me to stay quiet as he was not done yet.

"He's the evil guy. Who could possibly trust him, right? The sooner we get that guy, the sooner everything will be alright!" He explained and I could only form a small smile. He certainly sounded assuring and I could not detect lies in his voice. "I was just playing along with him so we could strike him down when he least expects it! We just have to know where he'll be next and then we'll get 'im!"

"Well... A worker at the station mentioned him going to planet Rilgar." I mentioned and Qwark beamed from excitement. He was acting a little strange, first acting like a defeated child and then hyper as usual, if not more.

"Good work! Richard's still with ya?" He asked and I assumed he meant the child.

"Yes. Ratchet is still with me." Now that I thought about it, the way he said that implied that he had expected Ratchet to die. Then again, he did that with me as well, always surprised when I survive dangerous missions. "He is quite exhausted and needs a-"

"That's great! Planet Rilgar it is!" Qwark cheered and walked past me to the door, opening it. "Let's go take care of that darned Drek now, huh?" He said as he headed for the cockpit and I followed him outside the room, staying behind by his room's door. I was quite definitely exhausted myself as the captain kept bothering me, but I decided to let it go since he was always this way.

With a shake of my head, I headed for my room and blinked a few times to see Al standing there beside the bed. "He really was tired." He said and I walked over, jumping to the bed to see Ratchet snore quite deeply and peacefully. "You two must've had some day. His clothes are falling apart."

"Yes." I replied, sitting down next to Ratchet as I watched him. "We are going to planet Rilgar. Perhaps we will have a chance to look for new clothes for him." I smiled at the young lombax and placed my hand on his head, giving him a light pet.

"Rilgar?" Al questioned, scratching his temple. "Are we going to go watch the race?"

"The race?" It was now my time to question and Al grunted as if I was out of my mind.

"The hover-board race! It's what the place is known for! If not for that, why are we going?" Al huffed, crossing his arms as I chuckled awkwardly.

"One of the workers at the station implied that Drek might be heading there next. I also told Qwark and everything seems to be fine with him." I rubbed the back of my head with my free hand, now watching al who gave me an uncertain look.

"Did he tell you what happened?"

"Something, yes. Apparently, Drek was trying to get Qwark work for him. Qwark was just playing along so he could strike him down when he least expected so. He was probably just in some sort of shock that there can be people in this galaxy that do not bow down to his greatness at first glance." I said jokingly and Al snickered in response, nodding in agreement.

"Well, I guess I better go assist the captain. You two rest a bit." Al smiled and quickly left the room. The only sound the room had now was Ratchet's sleeping sounds. I looked down at him again and smiled once more, then closing my eyes and just letting myself fall down on back on the bed. Ratchet would get a good rest and I would get my systems recharged before we would reach planet Rilgar so it was a good idea to use this rare chance. I could only imagine what we would be running after in there.

Without thinking much further though, I let my systems go offline for a while and let them recharge as much as they could for the next mission we would have to face.


	19. Chapter 19

Once my systems were recharged to the fullest, my eyes opened and I would be lying if I did not say that I felt a lot better than before. Low energy always got organic life forms upset, but we robots could not really use that excuse, even if it was partially the truth.

I sat up and looked to my left where Ratchet was- Well, correction, HAD been sleeping. I had not been resting for long and he still woke up before me? I could just hope now that he was not somewhere causing trouble or that he was not in trouble. Hopping out of the bed, I headed out of our room and set my way to the cockpit, assuming that is where he would be. As I reached the door, I could already hear his cheerful voice. He would never have any idea how relieved I was to hear his happy voice. As soon as I entered the room, I saw Ratchet have a conversation with Al, who was rather excited himself.

"And there's all these obstacles that you have to watch out for! Not only do they have to win, but they really have to watch out for EVERYTHING!" Al explained and I think this was the first time I had seen him so excited.

"But Skid can do it! He's the best!" Ratchet jumped in his place a few times, making Al chuckle.

"I know! He's pretty good, huh?" Again, another chuckle from Al.

"When I grow up, I'm going to be a hover-boarded too! Then I will be the best!" Ratchet cheered, grinning widely and receiving a pet on the head from Al.

"Yeah right! No-one can beat Skid in hover-boarding!" Al argued back, only making Ratchet more determined.

"Oh yeah? I'll show you!" Ratchet spoke in a very sure manner and it was quite interesting to watch. The two kept on arguing some more and by this moment, I finally noticed that Qwark and Helga were not in the room, only Al and Ratchet.

"Oh, Clank. Morning!" Al greeted me and Ratchet turned around so fast that almost I could not detect it.

"Clank!" He cheered, running up to me and taking a strong hold of my hands. I could only blink in surprise. "Once we get on Rilgar, can we please go see the race? Please, please, please!" He pleaded, his eyes growing big and shiny. So these were the "puppy eyes" I had heard of.

"Ratchet..." I sighed, shaking my head faintly, making his grin fade slowly. "I thought we could use the possibly free time to browse new clothes for you. Did you not say you disliked the look of your current ones?" My question seemed to make the young lombax desperate as he tried his best to come up with an excuse.

Then his ears shot up and so did his grin. "I can live with that! They're just some holes! If we get new ones, they'll just get ruined, too!" Ratchet cheered, caring so little for his clothes anymore. They were not just some holes; the way it looked was that if you got your hands on the shirt, you could rip it off with little effort.

Before I could protest again, Al got off his seat and walked towards us. "I have an idea." He stopped behind Ratchet, rubbing the back of his own head. "He could go with me. You can go look for the clothes. You probably know his size anyway."

"And I don't care what kind you get!" Ratchet beamed again, now beginning to look quite desperate. "Clank, pleeeeeease!" He whined again and I could only watch his expression in silence for a moment, before Al took a screwdriver from his pocket and gave it to Ratchet.

"Kid, take this to my room, will ya?" His suggestion confused Ratchet, but he took it gladly and nodded, running off the room. Al then turned more serious as he looked at me. "Give him a break, Clank. He told me what happened on the station and for his sanity, it would be a good idea to take him to see the race." He explained and I shook my head again.

"Do you really think we have time for such things? If Drek will be on the planet, we have to be careful. I can not afford to almost lose him again." I said, giving a desperate look of my own.

"I might not be that skilled with fighting as you, but I can take care of some kid at a race. I will bring him in one piece, I promise." He said, but I still was not that convinced. "The kid needs it! Are you going to deny the little fun he could have with things happening right now?" His question annoyed me a little bit. I knew he was right, but taking my eyes off of Ratchet was something I had hard time accepting.

It was then that Ratchet came back and ran up to Al, informing him that he had taken the screwdriver back to his room and informed him where he had placed it. Al praised him with a smile, while I was still weighting the good and bad sides of the matter. Even if the bad side was heavier for me, the hopeful look from Ratchet was something I failed to defy by this point.

"You may go." I agreed and Ratchet cheered, giving me a big hug along with a 'thank you'. "But!" I said and he pulled away, surprised. "You stay safe and remember; if there is trouble, you run and hide." I lectured him, but he just gave me an assuring smile.

"I know." He grinned without a worry. I could not help but smile back at him. He really did need something like this to take his mind off of things. He happily dashed out of the room and I could not help but smile after him.

My attention then turned to Al and I got more serious. "On the other hand, where are the others?" I asked, curious to know why Qwark was not in the cockpit telling us how he was much better than the rest of us. It certainly is weird that you kind of miss things when they are not happening when and where they should. Not that this could possibly be the case.

"Well, Helga went to exercise in her room and Qwark decided to go to sleep. He figured he'd need some rest before meeting with the president." Al explained, while my eyes lit up in surprise.

"The president? Why?" My question made Al shrug a bit as he crossed his arms.

"He has something really important to tell him. Not like he explains these things to us anyway." Al rolled his eyes while I shook my head.

"How true." I rubbed my forehead in defeat. Qwark was always pulling up things like this, so it was really not that surprising, just annoying. "When will we arrive in planet Marcadia?"

"In a few hours, maybe around five or six. The ship is on autopilot so I might as well take a rest of my own." Al said with a yawn and we both walked out of the cockpit. He headed for his room and I headed for mine.

"I will be on the lookout. I just need to check on the child first." I told before he could disappear into his room and he just nodded in agreement, closing his room's door. I went back to my room and saw Ratchet sitting on the floor, his back facing towards the door. He was working on something with full concentration and only noticed me when I was right behind him. "What are you up to?"

Ratchet looked at me over his shoulder a little surprised, then smiling cheerfully. "Well, I thought that since we have time, I'd fix this!" He showed me the object in his hands. I sat down on the floor opposite of him and gave him a smile as he proudly presented the grappling hook he built quite some time ago.

"Your grappling hook, I see." I noted and he nodded, placing the item on top of his crossed legs as he looked for parts around the floor. The room was a total mess, but he seemed to be in a paradise.

"Yup!" He cheered, replacing parts and tightening the new ones in with some smaller wrenches I had lost long time ago in this room. "I just thought that this could come on handy. Could've used it at the station, now that I think about it." He softly chuckled as he concentrated on the device. I could feel my mind growing heavy as I thought of the mission and how it could have gone better, but at least it did not go worse than it did.

"About that." I stated and Ratchet looked up sheepishly, not looking bothered by anything. I wonder how he did that. "You did quite good." A little embarrassed, I smiled. "I was rather rough on you and I apologize for that." The apology made Ratchet laugh. It was not an insulting laugh, but quite amused as if I had made a funny joke.

"But I get it." He said, still laughing a little bit. He watched me in such a pure, understanding manner that I could not even believe it to be real. "We both get it." As he said the latter sentence, I blinked. He grinned happily as he kept on fixing his gadget. "It was a tough situation. We both could've died out there. We were both scared." He paused completely as he only stared at the floor to his right. After a moment, he looked back to me with a smile. "What happened and what didn't happen is in the past. We survived. There is only the future now." He laughed again, even raising an eyebrow as I could only stare at him quietly, my mouth partially open. The words this boy used...

"You are right." Letting out a chuckle, I reached out my hand towards him. "Can I see it?" This time, it was I who made him confused and he looked down at the gadget, then handing it to me with a smile.

"Here. It still needs some work, but I think I'm getting the hang of it." He grinned proudly and for a good reason. He was very skilled, even if he did need some fine-tuning.

"You are quite handy with your wrench." I simply said as I inspected the gadget, giving it back to him once I was finished.

"You bet!" He cheered, going back to fixing it. We both sat there in silence for a long time, him working on the device and I watching him work. Neither of us were comfortable and nothing needed to be said. We could both understand.


	20. Chapter 20

"Excuse me?" Clank asked in surprise as I gave him my most wonderful grin, fists placed on my hips. The metal man could only stare at me with his mouth open, which didn't surprise me; who wouldn't do that to an amazing person like me?

"I will take care of this on my own, citizen! It would be a hassle if both of went in and talked to the president, you know. He doesn't like that many visitors." I explained, my grin never fading, while the tiny robot shook his head in confusion.

"Since when? I always join you when we go talk to him!" He said, not really understanding the situation. Well, could you blame him? He was just a small robot, after all.

"Not this time, my loyal companion!" I pointed my finger at him, grinning even wider. "I would much more prefer you to watch after the ship. It would cause less problems for us, especially after the last time when we had that rodent problem!" I laughed, not fully remembering what that was even about.

"It was not a rodent problem. It was Ratchet who got lost." I could hear anger rise in the robot's voice, but I didn't care. So it was the kid (I think), so what?

"Either way, it's wiser for you to stay in the ship this time, so we won't have any trouble leaving right after I finish talking with the president. Come on, lil' buddy, I'm trusting you to play captain while I'm off!" I grinned widely, finally able to convince the small robot to do as I said. It was hard sometimes to talk sense into this guy.

"Fine. I will stay. But will you at least tell me what is the issue? You have not told us anything. It is getting rather suspicious." Clank questioned, which made me swallow a nervous lump down my throat. Uh-oh.

"Ah, you know, I'm just gonna tell 'im to send troops to other planets. I'll need some lookout on Rilgar, if we're gonna get that darned Drek!" My explanation made the robot nod in acceptance and if I would have dared to, I would have let out a sigh of relief.

"Alright. We will be waiting then." Clank sighed, for some reason, and headed for the cockpit. The rest of the gang was there as well, so I could now leave in peace-

"Hey, Captain!" I heard a high pitched voice say, which made me jump a little. I turned to look at the source and saw the kid standing at the exit of the ship, his eyebrow raised at me. "You've been acting very weird lately." He said, which made me snort. What did kids knew?!

"Don't be silly, uh... Kid! I've just been tired, that's all! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a president to meet!" I took confident steps out of the ship, passing him as he kept watching after me. I could feel that intense stare, but for what reason he did that, I could not understand. Oh, but of course! He was admiring me! That had to be it!

"I have a strong feeling you're lying." The kid said, but I paid him no attention. Lying? Me? No way, I'm way past that! I only told constructed truths!

I made my way to the president's room, which really looked nice. It was only missing one thing; me! As I walked up to the president's desk, he stood up straight with a satisfied look on his face. "Captain Qwark! I am pleased to see you, as always! What brings you here? You didn't say much in the message you sent me earlier." The president raised his eyebrow and I gave him a grin. A strong, confident grin.

"Yes! I have located Chairman Drek and we are on our way to capture him! Which is why..." I paused for a moment as I leaned against one of the chairs that had been placed in front of the work desk. "...want you to pull back your troops."

"Pardon me?" The president's eyes grew wide, as if he didn't hear me.

"I have a perfect plan for capturing Drek. The troops could scare him off. He's not going anywhere from Rilgar, but if we act too loudly and suspiciously, we could lose him." I explained while the president sat down, shaking his head as he didn't seem to understand my plan.

"So you want to pull back the troops? All of them?" He asked as he watched me in disbelief.

"Yes." I simply stated, which seemed to do a back flip in the president's head as he progressed my words.

"That is, uh..." He stuttered, coughing into his fist. "Well, you certainly know your way around things. I must say, I don't quite understand your plan, but if you say this is the way to capture Drek, then... I suppose it is?" He shrugged, shaking his head a bit while giving an awkward smile.

"It's alright, dear president! Captain Qwark is always a step ahead! That Drek is mighty smart, but my plan is way too brilliant for him! It's just reverse psychology!" This time, the president gave a true smile. A smile that said "oh, I get it now!"

"Oh! I get it now!" He cheered, while I kept on grinning. This was easy. "I will do as you please, then!"

"Thank you, Mr. President." I laughed, offering my hand for a hand shake. He took the invitation and shook, oblivious to the truth. We gave each other goodbyes and I left the room, keeping my ever fading grin on. This had been painfully easy. I might not have intelligence like some people do, or even the courage, but there were two things that no-one could best me at.

First, charisma; it didn't matter what you said, as long as you fully stood behind your words and told them with courage, no-one would question you long.

Second, lying; if you're going to lie, you will have to believe in it with all your might. It will have to become the truth and make it seem like the truth to others.

Today, I had been very successful in both of these traits.


	21. Chapter 21

I sat on the fence made out of stone, letting the wind breeze through my hair while the sun shone just right to give me enough light to let me keep reading my book. It was an interesting book about formal leaders of Marcadia that my father had given me to browse. He hadn't expected me to fully read it, but this was my fifth time doing so. It was an interesting book and all these people that had been in power... It was very amazing and I could only wish I could stand along with them one day.

The clouds began playing around in the sky, playing hide and seek with the sun and preventing me the perfect lighting. I huffed lightly and jumped off the fence while holding on to the book as tightly as I could. It was something I didn't want to lose or get dirty.

I held the book behind my back, watching the scenery as I headed back for the house dad and I lived in. He was a big man on this planet. Well, on this galaxy, to be specific. I was so proud of him and I only wished that he was proud of him. He was a very good father and I loved him dearly, but he was often quite busy.

Once I got closer to the building of my destination, I noticed a ship had parked near the entrance. I huffed again, wondering who would park like that. Once I noticed and recognized the symbol, I rolled my eyes. Of course, Captain Qwark would. And he could. He didn't care what others said. I haven't met him that many times, but I could tell he had quite a lot of charisma. I don't know how reliable he truly is and how great he is in reality, but my father sure liked him and his work. He always said that Captain Qwark was a true super hero. Heh, well, perhaps.

I got closer to the ship and inspected it with a smile. It wasn't that gorgeous, but it seemed reliable. It would definitely need some work, though. If outside the ship was this messy, with the paint ripping off and rust showing here and there, who knows what the inside would look like.

With a snicker, I made it to the front, the entrance of the ship and the door had been left open. It lay against the ground like a bridge and there was someone sitting on top of it. He was leaning his arms against his knees, watching the building me and dad lived in. He seemed pretty happy about it.

"Hi." I greeted and instantly got his attention. He looked at me a little confused, as if he had never seen anything like me before. Not like I looked like anything too special. "I have never seen you before." I said, trying to get him to continue the conversation.

"That's because this is my second time being here." He replied with a shy smile. I walked closer to him, stopping next to the door and placing my hand on it.

"Around this neighbourhood?" I giggled and he laughed.

"Nah, on this planet." His answer surprised me, but since he was probably here with the ship, it was no wonder. I watched him curiously while he did the same.

"Are you with Captain Qwark?" I asked.

"Kinda." He answered, his tail slowly swinging side to side. Now that I got a better look at him, I noticed he was not that familiar looking. Not just generally, but his race; I couldn't recognize it. "What are you doing here?" He then asked, which got me off guard just a little. An awkward laugh came out of my throat that I failed keeping in.

"I live here." I tried my best forming a smile, but I could feel it came out all wrong. This was just going to be like other times. "I'm the president's daughter." I said and he gave me a strange look. He was not really surprised or astounded. He acted like it was completely normal.

"Must be nice. To live with your dad." He smiled like he had no care in the world. I just let out a soft chuckle and walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"Yes. He is a good father." I said, quite happy that I got to talk to another person around my age. "Ah, I'm sorry..." I laughed in an awkward manner, again. "My manners are just all over the place today." I raised my hand towards him. "My name is Sasha."

He grinned, raising his hand and taking a firm hold of mine, giving me a rather strong hand shake. "I'm Ratchet."

"Hey, Ratchet..." I began, giving another weird laugh. "I don't want to sound offensive or anything, but... What exactly are you? I have never seen... Well..."

"I'm a lombax." He chuckled, waving his feet a little. "What are you?"

"I'm a cazar." We both nodded and shared a quiet laugh. This was certainly weird. "So, you travel with Captain Qwark, huh? Or what did you mean with 'kinda'?" I asked, not wanting our conversation to fall into an awkward silence. I truly hated those.

"Well, he certainly is around, but he doesn't care for me." Ratchet laughed as if he didn't care himself. "There's Al and Helga... Al's kinda fun, he let's me play holovid games." He explained as his grin grew, only to grimace right after. "Helga on the other hand... She scares me and she hates me." Again, he began to grin. "But I hate her back, so there!"

His explanation was interesting, but not that self-explanatory. "So why are you with them?"

He looked down with such a soft smile. It was so true and so happy. He looked back up to me and said: "'Cause I need my dad." A weird kind of chuckle escaped from him that I couldn't understand. Even the sentence didn't make much sense when compared to his previous explanation. But I just decided to let it go.

"Is your father a good man?" I asked, oblivious to his odd laughter.

"Yeah." Ratchet said, laughing, then rolling his eyes. "Of course, he lectures a lot." He shook his head as he looked at me. My expression lit up.

"Mine does that too!" I huffed, giving Ratchet a playful pout. "Always going on about how I act way too dangerous!" I then showed him the book I was tightly holding on. "So I try to be a bit more calm. He gave me this book and I do like reading."

My explanation seemed to make Ratchet a little upset. He stared at my book and then forced himself to smile at me. "It must be nice." He turned his attention elsewhere, looking like he was feeling very awkward. I looked down at my book and then my previous words as well as his. I didn't get it, but I did have to try and get him out of that awkward state.

"So, you travel a lot?" My question seemed harmless and he looked more happy about this one. His expression was almost thanking me for some reason. Maybe he really felt awkward about books? Who knows.

"Yeah, it's not that often I get to step on some solid ground." He said as he gently began to wave himself from side to side while watching the presidental house. "It's nice to feel the breeze like this every now and then." He then turned back to me, grinning widely. "I haven't seen that many planets yet, but what I've heard and seen so far, each one is so different! We're going to Rilgar next!" His explanation made me blink. Planet Rilgar? It was the place with the hoverboard races going on, wasn't it?

"Going to see the race?" I asked with a kind smile and he nodded with glee.

"Yup! Skid McMarx is racing, so I gotta see it!" Ratchet's grin only widened. I could only wonder how wide he could grin, it just seemed to keep growing. Unfortunately, I didn't know anything about racing nor about Skid McMarx. Heh, boys. "What about you?" He then asked, but I had been unable to follow.

"What about me?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"Have you ever traveled to other planets before?" He asked more accurately, giving a light chuckle afterwards.

"Ah, no. We usually stay firmly on this planet and even when dad has to travel, I'm usually left behind." I told him and his curious look made me want to continue. "I want to... You know, some day... I want to be a captain of a ship. Then I could go anywhere, anytime." That was my dream. I didn't get to tell it to many people; I told my dad and he shook it off like it was just a phase. But I knew my dream was real and I would make it happen, one day.

"That's cool!" Ratchet cheered, which certainly got my hopes up about my dream. "Maybe I'll be able to fly with you?" He nudged me, laughing playfully.

"Oh yeah? What would be your position?" I sneered, while he just grinned goofily.

"An adventurer. I'll adventure places where no-one in their right minds would go." We both laughed at his words.

"Are you saying you're not in your right mind?" I just had to question him to see what he would answer.

"I guess not." He laughed once again. "I like danger. It can be pretty scary, but I like it. It feels natural to me." He said, which only made me raise my eyebrow in wonder.

"How can danger feel natural to you?" I couldn't understand this boy. He didn't seem any different from other kids I met, but his words and subjects were beyond different. I'd imagine anyway.

"It's something I grew up with. It's just something I got used to and became good at." He looked down with a weak smile, letting out a heavy sigh. "At first I thought it was the worst thing that could happen to me... I was alone and no-one cared that I existed..." He began to explain. "But then I was found by someone. He took me in and wanted to take care of me." He continued and I finally started to realize his situation. I finally understood what he meant by 'I need my dad'. "There has been dangerous situations, even worse so than before." He grabbed onto his shirt and only now I noticed the holes in his clothes, as if something had bitten him. Something huge. "It just feels so much more... Safe. I don't feel so bad about it anymore."

"It's because you're not lonely anymore." I stated with a smile, receiving another curious stare from Ratchet. "You were alone for a long time, I assume. You were surviving, but you didn't know why. You had no reason to." I explained as his eyes grew wider. "Now you do."

He looked away in surprise, slowly beginning to smile as he let the words sink in. "Yeah, you're... Totally right." He said with a laugh that almost sounded like he was choking in it a little bit.

"You're a weird kid, Ratchet." I said and he looked at me like it really came out of blue.

"Why?" This time he raised an eyebrow.

"You just seem like an adult at time." I stated, making him laugh once again.

"Speak for yourself!" He gave me a playful glare while I was a little surprised. It wasn't like this was the first time someone told me I acted like an adult considering my age, but it was still odd hearing it from him. But I smiled; I really smiled. I was happy to share a conversation with someone like him for once.

We both kept laughing until we saw Captain Qwark come out of my home, grinning wider than in his posters, but this one looked a little nasty. I didn't really like the look of it. "Another kid now, huh? Don't tell me Clank picked up a sister for you, Roger!" Qwark said to Ratchet, which made him snarl at him.

"It's Ratchet... And no, this is Sasha. She lives here." Ratchet shortly explained, but Qwark only waved his hand and walked past us into the ship.

"Doesn't matter, I don't really care!" He let out a laugh, which made us both snort. We looked at each other, rolling our eyes. We didn't need to even say it, but we both were thinking the same thing; what a jerk.

"Well, I suppose we'll be leaving soon." Ratchet gave a slightly sad smile as did I. Right when I gained a friend. "I'm sure we'll meet again." He then grinned, raising his right hand to me. I let out a giggle, doing the same and taking a strong grip of his hand.

"We better." We let go and I stood up, grabbing my book and walking down the bridge like door, turning to look at him again. "You, uh..." I started, a little embarrassed. "Are you my friend?" My question made Ratchet laugh as he still sat on the door, his tail wagging from side to side.

"Duh!" He replied, blinking a few times before turning his attention towards the ship. A small robotic figure walked to the entrance, which made Ratchet smile in a way that made me smile when I saw my father. So this was him, huh?

"Ratchet, we are leaving now. You better- Oh. Hello." The robot blinked as he saw me, obviously questioning my presence.

"Hello. I was just having a chat with Ratchet. My name is Sasha." I explained, which made his eyes light up.

"Oh, you are the president's daughter! He had mentioned you a couple of times, but this is the first time I have actually seen you. We never had time to look at any pictures, according to Qwark anyway." The robot chuckled. His words didn't really surprise me. Father never was the kind to show off with any pictures and even when he would want to do that, no-one really cared. "My name is Clank. Pleased to meet you." He continued with a smile.

"Likewise." As I replied, the ship began to hum and I took more steps back. Ratchet climbed on the ship and happily waved his arm at me, forcing me to do the same. Neither of us yelled anything, but we didn't really need to. We'd meet one day, so saying goodbye was silly. The door closed and the ship rised to the skies, soon disappearing in to space.

Chuckling to myself, I turned around and heading in to the house, walking along the long and tall hallways, my steps echoing in the wide space. I headed for my dad's room where he usually sat as he worked. He usually told me not to interrupt him, but maybe he wouldn't be too mad about it now?

I carefully opened the door, peeking inside to see where my dad sitting at his desk and since there was no-one else in the room, I entered. "Hey." I simply said and his attention was instantly forwarded to me.

"Sasha, my girl!" He smiled happily, standing up from his seat and making his way over to me. "My, you look cheerful today. More than usual!" He stated, and I giggled.

"I made a friend today." My answer surprised him and he raised an eyebrow.

"A friend, you say? You will have to tell me about it." He ruffled my hair and offered me his hand, which I gladly took and he lead me to his chair. He sat down and allowed me to sit on his lap. Sometimes he was so busy that he barely had any time to talk to me, so moments like this were really dear to me. "Now, tell me." He insisted with another smile.

"Well, there was this boy on Captain Qwark's ship." I began my surprisingly long tale.


	22. Chapter 22

"Would you care for seconds?" I asked from the young lombax with a smile. I stood on top of a stool so I could reach the kitchen counter better; someone had to cook for the boy, after all.

Ratchet grinned between the bites he took from his meal, giving me an eager nod. "Yeah!" He cheered, finishing the last bite he had. That boy certainly had an appetite! Perhaps it was only for the best, after all none of us had no idea what would wait for us in Rilgar and when he would be able to eat a filling meal again. He would have to eat well now, so he had energy to do all possible activities. I let out a chuckle as I jumped off the stool to go get his plate. Ratchet handed the plate for me and I walked back to the counter to fill it up again.

As I was placing Ratchet's food, Captain Qwark entered the room that was hybrid of a dining room and a kitchen and needless to say the super hero was not happy in the least. "Hey, what gives, man? You're making food for him and not for us?!" He complained and I could then spot Al behind Qwark, who only tried to get to the fridge.

"For the record, dear captain, Ratchet is only a child. You, however, are an adult man who can quite easily prepare dinner on his own." I explained, irritated. I would not become the ships chef along with being the ships adventurer.

"Aw, but I can't cook! You've seen my cooking's!" Qwark kept complaining and I let out a deep sigh. Before I could respond, Ratchet let out a playful giggle.

"You're saying there's something the great Captain Qwark can't do? What kind of a super hero are you?" Ratchet grinned widely as Qwark looked at him in shock. I couldn't help but chuckle at the comment while the dear captain gasped.

"You're... Absolutely wrong! I didn't mean I can't cook AT ALL! No, I meant, I can't cook right now!" Qwark stood up straight, placing his fists on his hips as he grinned as wide as he always did. "I have to watch my weight, you know? Eating too much is bad for you! Right, Al?" Qwark laughed as he nudged Al, who just let out an angry growl as he was taking out different kinds of ingredients from the fridge, probably wanting to make a simple sandwich.

"Sure. Whatever you say, captain." Al snarled, but the ego filled man did not care much for his tone. Qwark only responded how great he was and he was so much better than the rest, leaving the room with a strong laugh. Al looked at me and we both shook our heads in annoyance. "Sometimes, argh..." Al said as he placed the items he got out of the fridge, while I filled Ratchet's plate and took it to him. He took the plate with a joyful smile and began eating right away after the plate was placed on the table.

"I know. But with his famous image, we have recognition. It does make it easier to buy things for new inventions, would you not agree?" I gave Al a smile as I walked back to the counter, standing next to him and he let out another sigh, this time without me.

"I suppose. Just wish he'd be a little less... THAT." Al attempted on imitating Qwark's grin and it definitely looked hilarious on his face. I had seen Al smile before, but such a grin did not suit him in the least. Ratchet watched him, laughing at the face he made, suddenly starting to cough violently.

"Ratchet! Are you alright!" I panicked and rushed over to the lombax again, to which the boy just nodded, laughing between the coughs.

"That was..." Ratchet coughed. "Just so..." Another cough. "Funny." He coughed again and I couldn't help but watch him in worry. It seems that it was not anything serious and only a little bit of something got into his "wrong throat"; I was still terrified because of it. His coughing slowed down and he let out a deep breath, picking up his fork and continuing with his meal.

I sighed and walked back to the counter, getting on the stool once more and starting to wash the dishes that were not needed anymore at the moment. I gave a glance at Al, who was preparing the sandwich with most concentration. It was almost like he was trying hard to make it challenging for himself. "Would you care for the leftovers? I do not think that stomach will take in more after that plate." I told Al as I looked at Ratchet, who was still happier than ever. It was almost strange how happy he was eating the meal.

Al looked at me as I turned my attention back to him. "Sure. I would have made something else, but... I have too much on my mind right now." Al chuckled as he finished making the sandwich. I took the closest clean plate and handed it to him, receiving a silent "thank you" in the process.

"Would you care to share?" I asked kindly, but he shook his head with a smile.

"It's okay. It's just about an invention that I've had in mind for a while. All I can say: you'll love it." The big, yellow man let out an unusual grin as he placed some food on the plate, emptying the pots completely. He also took the sandwich and placed it on top of the food I made, heading then for the doorway. "I'll try perfecting it soon enough, so it'll be a bit easier for you out there." He then walked away, not allowing me to ask any further questions. I would just have to wait then.

With a soft sigh, I turned back to doing the dishes, listening how the fork Ratchet was holding to kept hitting the porcelain plate again and again. Other than the sound of that, and the dishes splashing in the soap water, it was silent in the room. Not in an awkward manner though; we were both enjoying our own activities, after all.

"How do you know how to cook?" A question was suddenly asked and I almost did't get to register it, because it caught me by surprise, for some reason. Doing the dishes always made my mind wonder off somewhere.

"Well." I began, not turning to look at the young lombax. "I enjoy knowledge. Knowing how to prepare a basic meal was just something I was interested in knowing." I chuckled, receiving a confused hum from the child.

"What for?" Another question and this time, I was the one to let out a confused hum.

"For survival, I suppose. You never know what will happen." I stated as I placed a washed pot into the drying rack, starting to wash another one after that.

"But you don't need food to survive." The sentence was such a simple fact. Robots didn't need such things to survive, but it was not the case for the likes of him.

"No. But you do." I turned to look at him with a smile and he just stared at me in surprise before forming a grin on his face. He didn't say a word as he turned back to his food, his grin not fading as he kept on eating.

There was not much I knew about children and I never looked too deep into it, but I knew that children always had a problem with eating the vegetables their parents made them eat. Knowing how nutritious they were, I had to prepare them as well and I had also prepared myself for a fight with the boy over them, but surprisingly, Ratchet ate everything without complaint. He would just eat with a smile on his face. I just had to find out.

"You seem quite happy." My statement received Ratchet's attention and his smile faded away a bit, only to soon form back.

"It's the best damn food I've ever eaten." Normally, a parent would scold their children for such use of language (not that it was that tragic, but it didn't suit the language of a child), but I could only turn away with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Thank you." Sure, I had prepared food before, for other people and received a fair compliment, but this one made me a lot more happier. Then, a faint sniffle broke my thoughts and I turned back to look at Ratchet. He was still smiling, but his eyes were a lot more... Watery.

"It's uh... The first time anyone has really bothered to make me a dinner..." Another sniffle escaped from Ratchet as he let out a laugh to cover it. He looked at me, his lower lip trembling. "Sure, they made me food at a hospital. But that wasn't..." He shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment, holding in the possible tears he was close to shedding. "It wasn't for me... It was just their job... Not like this!" He pointed at the little amount of food he still had left with his fork, looking a little bit brighter as he said the last three words. "This is just great! I could only wish to get meals like this every day!"

Ratchet's words truly made my processors run warm, making me a little embarrassed, but extremely happy. To receive such kind words would make anyone feel great amounts of joy, I was sure. The last sentence made me feel a little bit guilty, though. I had not been able to prepare such good meals for him for the first few days due to being so busy with other things, so the things I made him were not much greater than the sandwich Al had made himself. "I will try hard to make that wish come true, then." My words made Ratchet's eyes light up with hope while I gave him a slightly sad smile. "I can not promise you to prepare food like this each day, but whenever I simply can, I will make you a fulfilling, delicious meal that will only be better than the one before." Thinking back on my words, they sounded extremely cheesy, but it seemed to make Ratchet very happy.

"It would be nice." He said, looking down on his food and eating the rest of the food. I chuckled, turning back to the dishes. He really didn't need to say anything else. His expression explained it all as did his quiet "thanks" when he walked over to me and handed over the empty plate with a soft smile that I gladly returned.


End file.
